


To Balance on Knife's Edge

by TheChoas



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I'm Sorry, M/M, Murder, Smut, Strangers to Lovers, XiuChen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2020-11-08 09:31:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20833235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheChoas/pseuds/TheChoas
Summary: Some people are normal, some people are a little crazy, some are totally mad and others just completely sick. Seoul has a man who is all of that – a guy who sure knows how to behave like a normal human being, who has friends that are just as crazy as he is, who is just like everybody else. The only difference is that he kills just for the sake of it and nobody knows who he is.[XiuChen]





	1. Chapter 1

A pounding headache is the first thing he is able to feel. Then there is a certain burning pain around his wrists and ankles together with something warm trailing down his skin, some liquid gathering in his palms, held back from dripping onto the floor due to the fists his hands are in. Every muscle in his body seems to protest about their very existence although the man hasn’t made a single move yet.  
Groaning quietly in pain, Minseok tries to open his eyes, to see what kind of misery he is caught in exactly, but he is greeting with nothing except threatening darkness. He can feel his head pounding against his ribcage, his blood is rushing in his ears when he tries to recall what has happened to him, what has brought him into this situation – yet there is nothing that comes to his mind but pain and silence.

The throbbing behind his forehead gets worse when there is suddenly noise arising around him, footsteps that come nearer, most likely walking straight towards his direction. If he hears it right, there are two persons and through the fog in his head, just if he really tries so hard to concentrate, Minseok is able to make out voices accompanying them.

“I let you be because you had your reasons just like I do, too, but you went too far.” somebody growls

“Y-yes, I know b-but-“

“Not to mention that you just picked out him out of all people, sweetheart. I bet you already realized what this means for you.”

“No, please, I will… d-don’t, I beg you!”

The other person mutters something in a voice one would use to speak to a baby before a way too loud scream echoed through the room right before there is a deafening bang that succeeds in making Minseok’s ears ring and pulls a wince out of his sore throat. A thud follows, as if something heavy has fallen to the floor right before the smell of smoke hits Minseok’s itching nose. His breath gets stuck in his lungs when he comes to the right conclusion what this can only mean, what those sounds were and where they have come from.

Somebody clicks their tongue one, followed by a mutters, “What a shame. What waste of a human being,” right before the person walks over to Minseok who is still not able to see anything, sitting on a chair in a place he has never been so far – blindfolded, restricted, beaten up.

“You have no idea how lucky you are, do you?” a voice Minseok has surely heard somewhere before mutters into his ear – rough around the edges but at the same time so honey-coated it makes goosebumps appear on the man’s skin under the thick layers of clothing he is wearing. He knows it from somewhere… just where has he heard it? His thoughts are swimming in his liquid brain, unable to catch a single of them without the ideas slipping through his mind, swirled by pain and kept in pace by fear.

The stranger walks around him and Minseok can’t help but feel on full display for the man he is not able to see, so he stiffens under the gaze that is, without a doubt, on his in this moment. He pushes down a shudder when there is a hand on his shoulder as the guys leans down and mutters into his ear, “Let’s get you out of here, shall we?” right before there is a dull bang delivered to the back of his head and the world becomes blank and silent again. Minseok doesn’t even have the time to make single sound.


	2. Handsome Stranger

He doesn‘t exactly know when he has seen the man for the very first time. It definitely wasn’t at university because they have always smiled at each other from afar when they have passed by even before Minseok has been running into him that one time, sharing coy glances and shy grins for those few moments that seem to make the man’s day better every single time. If he remembered right, he has had a plan of the university with him at the first day since he had just gotten there, meaning that he probably was younger by himself for just a few, unimportant years – if at all.  
Now that Minseok thinks about it a little bit more, there was that one day that comes to his mind when the unknown male has been at the coffee house he works at – even before university had begun with this semester, so they have already met there already. Whenever it was doesn’t really matter to Minseok yet he still wonders how he has gotten himself into the situation he finds himself in.

There is loud music blaring from every sides, songs he had heard some times before but nothing that immediately catches his attention, just a strong bass and gamy lyrics that is way too noisy to understand one’s own word. A lot of people are standing around with colorful cups in their hands, some of them already too drunk to stand up straight, some others are dancing as if their life depends on it, others are flirting with strangers or making out in dark corners whilst Minseok just awkwardly stands in the doorframe of the kitchen with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes raking over the students having fun after their finished exams. He knows quite a number of them from the lectures he has had with them like that one tall guy who is currently playing a shot game with some literature-majors or the shy-seeming, small girl who is still aggressively kissing one of the accounting scholars on one of the red sofas.

Shaking his head slightly in amusement, Minseok searches for the man who is the reason to why he is currently trapped in a place that is absolutely not his scene at all, especially not when he would rather be in bed because he uses to stand up at four in the morning to go to work and goes to bed at ten pm the earliest since university can be an asshole sometimes and even if all of his exams are over now, he still has to catch up with sleep.  
He spots him relatively fast (most likely because he is screaming his soul out at the moment during laughing so hard). Baekhyun is one of his best and closest friends and although Minseok sometimes can’t seem to remember why they are friends in first place, he usually can’t think of his life without the loud and obnoxious pixie in it and if that meant that his nerves were frayed because of him sometimes then so be it. The red-haired boy had invited him to this party with a pointed look, a sly smirk and the words, “You are coming, right? I know that this cute guy you are always looking for in the hallways will be there too!” and even if Minseok really didn’t want to actually go here, he had agreed without thinking about it much with an involuntary smile sneaking onto his lips – surprising himself and Baekhyun yet more. The younger man had switched between teasing wiggles of his eyebrows and a proud-dad expression that whole day and the following week for the matter.

But somehow Minseok can’t bring himself to regret the decision he has made, not when he witnesses Baekhyun grinning and waving at him in total joy at the fact that his older friend did actually show up and is still staying around although he has never made a single move to go to a party on his own until this time. When he comes over, Minseok catches him just in the last moment before he topples to the ground with alcohol already rushing through his veins – probably more than blood.

“Minseok-hyung!” he screeches into his ear while he tries to struggle to stand up properly again without other’s hands holding him upright, “It’s so nice to see you!”

“That’s great because you invited me if you still remember,” Minseok chuckles and lets go off him once he’s sure that the younger man won’t fall again, taking a step back to put some distance between them.

“Did I?” Baekhyun wonders and hunches his eyebrows together while one of his pointer fingers comes up to touch his chin when a smile of realization spreads over his features, “I did! Though you are just here because of that one guy and not even because of me!”

Now there is an accusing finger pointing at him but also that smug, self-satisfied grin that Minseok really wants to wipe off his face, yet he just avoids his gaze and instead looks to the ground with his cheeks heating up at this comment since he isn’t able to say that his friend is absolutely wrong although the stranger isn’t the only reason why he has come – that’s at least what he is trying to make himself believe.

“Though I haven’t seen him yet,” Baekhyun continues as if he hasn’t noticed that his friend is feeling a little uncomfortable, “You should go and look for him!”

“Oh yes!” Minseok agrees just as enthusiastically and even if the younger man is drunk, he clearly hears the sarcasm his voice is dripping with, “And then I’m just going to do what?”

Sighing in disappointment, Baekhyun reaches for his arm and drags him into the kitchen, still talking in a way too loud and high pitched voice as if he is lecturing a child that refuses to do anything that it is told, “That’s the point where you need a drink! Why do you think we hoarding alcohol like dragons hoard shiny things? Because we want to help desperate people like you to either find the love of their life or at least get laid and you, my sweet friend, could use either of these two options!”

With that he lets go off him to pour him some liquor and a bit of juice into a dark blue plastic cup, swirling it a bit before he hands it over to Minseok who takes it a little reluctantly with some kind of pained expression spreading over his face.

“I don’t really-“

“Hyung,” Baekhyun cuts him off with a strange movement of his hand and a shake of his head, “Just do it and don’t think about it. Drink, then I’ll prepare you something else and then you can go to find your lover-boy.”

Goodbye logical thinking and self-control, Minseok thinks as he guides the liquid to his lips, tips his head back and downs the whole content of his cup without stopping to even breathe or to wince when the familiar burn flares up in his throat.

Although it takes alcohol between 30 minutes and two hours after drinking one sip to be fully absorbed into a human’s blood, the effects of drinking are perceptible after seven minutes already. Minseok has been proud of his high tolerance for liquors so far yet now, when he steps into the living room after getting his drink refilled another time, he can’t help but curse Baekhyun inwardly because the loud music was almost enough to make him feel dizzy when his thoughts already begin to blur with the picture in front of his eyes.

“What have you given me?” he grumbles and lifts his hand to sniff at the liquid, wincing when the burning, sharp smell hit his nose before he flinches back and shakes his head quickly. Somebody behind him chuckles at that, making the poor startled man spin around as fast as possible with his eyes wide open. They widen even more when he takes in the sight of what man is standing in front of him.

“Cute,” the stranger comments under his breath with a bright grin on his pointed features, his eyes quickly trailing down Minseok’s body before he comes up again as if nothing has happened. The older male just stares with his lips slightly parted when he realizes that 1.) this is the reason why he is here, 2.) he will murder Baekhyun when he sees him the next time because he is not prepared for this 3.) he probably wouldn’t be in such a loss of words if his tongue wasn’t already a little heavy because the alcohol and lastly he is still glaring as if a miracle just happened right in front of him.

“H-hi?” he rasps out before finally closing his mouth as he desperately tries to keep up with the eye contact because this is the first time this handsome stranger talks to him and he will drag it out for as long as possible because damn does he look good in tight black pants and a silky raven shirt that loosely hugs his upper body together with his brown hair styled up and some dark makeup framing his lashes. Somehow swallowing seems to be quite a difficult task, especially when one corner of the stranger’s already curled lips twitches upwards.

“Hey there,” he answers lowly and even though the music is still too loud and there are way too many people around them, Minseok understands him perfectly, “I’ve been looking for you.”

“You have?” the man askes, still a bit shaky but at least not stuttering anymore even if the stranger looks like he really did find it adorable the first time with his gaze still as soft as it could be.  
He nods and takes a small step closer, a little more into Minseok’s personal space but it isn’t like the man minds at all, he just lifts his head slightly to get a better look at him from his position. It is only then that the older male realizes that he is clutching onto his cup somewhat too tightly, the blue, thin plastic already cracking under his knuckles when he lets it loose again, both of their gazes flickering down on it for a short moment before they meet another time.  
The stranger is holding nothing but judging by his light red cheeks and his boldness he either doesn’t need anything like liquor or he already has drunk what he needed to gather up his courage – or he just isn’t as affected by the whole situation as Minseok is. The latter is now a little torn between taking a step back to clear his head or to step closer and screw each and everything to make sure that Baekhyun won’t be disappointed in him.

The decision is kind of made for him when the stranger speaks up again.

“I thought that it was about time to get to know your name, if that’s alright for you, beautiful.”

Now feeling very insecure instead of just a little, the man blushes as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, desperately in the need to drink another sip or he will pass out from nervousness. Just because he has always seen the other guy on the campus or running through the hallways to make it to his lectures on time while smiling at him from far away, he wouldn’t have imagined that exactly this guy would someday be openly flirting with him.

“Minseok,” he answers, maybe too quietly but the stranger doesn’t seem to mind when he cocks his head to one side while the smile on his face gets a little wider, “and yours?”

“Jongdae,” the now not-stranger-anymore says back and steps closer again, his eyes flickering down one more time, yet this time they come up slower than before, reluctant due to lingering in a few places that Minseok doesn’t want to think about just now.

“You know,” he murmurs when their gazes cross once more, “we have seen each other so many times already but I’ve only just realized how incredibly handsome you really are.”

Minseok bites down on his bottom lip for a split instant, happily asserting how Jongdae follows the tiny movement with attentive eyes, before he finds his voice again, “You should speak for yourself first. I’m pretty sure you haven’t noticed how many people are watching you like they are just waiting to drag you into an empty room.”

That isn’t a lie – just by looking around for a few seconds Minseok spots over eight persons glancing over at them, not to mention the ones who keep their looks fixed on the young man in front of him (or rather his backside).With the next words flowing from those pretty lips, Minseok is sure that there is no air left around them.

“Too bad I only have eyes for you.”

“Depends on the point of view,” he mutters, “It’s definitely anything but bad for me.” Then he is catching a glimpse of somebody moving towards them from his left side just in time when he hears the voice of a certain male he really doesn’t want to interrupt whatever-this-is.

Without even properly thinking of it, Minseok quickly takes ahold of the other boy’s wrist and tugs him into the kitchen, a small smile playing on his lips at that when he takes notice that Jongdae isn’t even hesitating to follow him but just trails behind him as if he can read his mind and knows why they are fleeing. That is at least until Minseok is close enough to the table to place his cup on it right before somebody comes so close that he feels another body pressed up against him and hot breath tickling his neck and even if he’s already a little drunk, he is painfully aware of every of his senses that are all focused on the handsome male who miraculously seems to think that Minseok is special in some kind of way.

His palms are still resting on the table surface in front of him with his thighs digging against its edge lightly when Jongdae shuffles even closer so that not even an inch of space is in between them, the man leaning down until the tip of his nose is brushing against the side of Minseok’s neck. The latter holds his breath and grants him some more space when he tilts his own head to the other side a bit, hearing the man hum in approval as he feels hands dancing over his waist down to his hips where he lets them rest with his fingertips caressing the shirt-covered skin right above the seam of his pants.

“How drunk are you?” Jongdae rumbles into his ear, the hot breath making the older male shiver with goosebumps becoming visible on his neck that make the fine hair at the end of his scalp stand.

“Sober enough to know what I’m doing,” Minseok answers in a whisper, already knowing where exactly this is going and even if he can’t be sure just now, the excitement flowing through his veins together with a rush of adrenaline is enough to keep up with the shivers and the flexed muscles – the reaction is causing a smug grin on Jongdae’s curled up lips when he leaves a peck on the skin which he has nuzzled until now.

“So I won’t take advantage of you?”

“I wouldn’t call it that if I am certainly willing to do God knows what with you.”

With a low growl rising from his chest, Jongdae grabs one of his arms and spins him around only to crash their lips together as he drives the man into the edge of the table with one of his legs slipping between the other man’s. The whimper that escapes Minseok’s throat can’t be helped and he feels the other man almost smirk in response yet he doesn’t when there are small hands cupping his nape to keep him close and an eagerly working mouth against his own while his arms wrap around Minseok’s middle to push their fronts flush together.  
The thought that they are not a single bit better than the other horny students making out all over the living room doesn’t cross the older man's mind a split second and he honestly can’t care any less about the fact aince Jongdae coaxes his lips to open up with his tongue to prove what wicked skills he has in stock, nudging his legs to make more space for him. Minseok allows all of it to happen without hesitating or pulling back one time because the air around them is already getting hotter when he slides his palms down the man’s body, from his sharp collar bones over that sculptured chest he hasn’t expected to feel so firm under his touch. In payback, Jongdae tugs his shirt out of his pants and slips warm fingertips under it to explore what Minseok keeps hidden from the world, groaning quietly in approval and appreciation when he traces the lines of the muscles with teasingly feathery light touches.

It doesn’t take the older man longer than a few instants to fall into the kiss completely, drowning in hot depths of the other’s mouth that tastes a little bit bitter due to the alcohol, a little sweet of something that he has used to make his drink bearable and so much of himself that it steals Minseok’s breath since his nose is already filled with the male’s cologne and his natural scent. It is somewhat strangely pleasing in a way that lures him in more with every passing second, leaving him lightheaded and only the slightest bit dizzy adding to the alcohol already clouding his usually so logical and organized mind.

Before he can get used to it, though, Jongdae pulls back for a short moment with still no distance between their bodies, throwing him a glance that asks so many unspoken questions while it translates a clear intention he doesn’t dare to say out loud yet although the older man is all too willing to grant him everything Jongdae seems to want from him.

“There is an empty room upstairs,” Minseok pants to answer what he hasn’t voiced yet, his chest rising and falling rapidly and with that brushing against the other man’s repeatedly. The fingers on his sides are now digging into his skin, not uncomfortably or enough to be painful but just so much that he keeps a confirming hold on him when Jongdae smirks slightly as he cocks his head to one slightly, “Why are we still here then?”

There was one time when Baekhyun has defiled Minseok’s brand new couch with a stranger he has never seen after it ever again and Minseok has always been mad at him for this so that he can now consider it payback when he locks said guy’s door while way too calm fingers slowly undo the buttons of his shirt from where Jongdae is standing behind him. His hands are gliding over every inch of naked skin that he reveals until he runs out of buttons and Minseok is shivering at the teasing fingertips that trail over the waistband of his pants, over the outlines of his muscles and the thin, dark hairs that lead from his navel into his underwear while the older man struggles to keep himself upright with his palms pressed against the surface of the door. It really has been too long, Minseok decides when an impatient whine slips past his lips right in the moment the other male rolls his pelvis against his butt ever so slightly. At least he isn’t the only one that’s affected by the situation even if they haven’t done much until now yet.

Deciding to not let him have all the fun, Minseok turns around to say something yet the male is too quick to take advantage of his already opened mouth when he kisses him another time with such a high amount of passion and fierceness that it knocks all oxygen out of the older man’s lungs for some short moment which it takes him to recover from the sudden attack and actually make a move to return the fervor that he is treated with while his own hands come down to open up Jongdae’s shirt, their tongues dancing, fighting for the upper hand and who will be able to outclass the other.  
The latter reaches for Minseok’s pants, popping the button open and pulling down the zipper before either of them can even think about it, making the man moan into his mouth when he incidentally lets his hand trail over his groin.

It seems as if they only then become aware of what exactly they are currently doing when they pull back right in the same moment to stare into each other’s eyes through the little bit of light that’s provided by the lamps in front of the room’s window.

“It’s a bit quick, isn’t it?” Jongdae asks quietly, wheezing slightly since the air around them is too hot to breathe, too thin to provide them with enough oxygen and too filled with want to let them think straight.

Minseok nods slowly in response, needing a few moment to get his brain to work enough to actually form coherent words and those words into full sentences.

“I mean we’ve never properly talked to each other before let alone knew the other’s name before tonight,” he eventually agrees, leaning against the door behind his back a little while he still makes sure that there is not too much distance between them as his eyes involuntary travel down the man’s exposed front, catching how well build the almost-stranger actually is and how freaking hot he looks when his black shirt stands open over the way too tight pants that don’t leave anything to the imagination how turned on the male is by that little they have done.

Some silent moments pass by in which nobody of the two really knows what to say while Minseok desperately tries (and fails) to look up from his body, to hold himself back from pouncing on the man he has admired from afar for about half a year now. Jongdae has the same inward trouble, yet he doesn’t fight too hard against it when he notices that Minseok is basically drooling over him so he quickly mutters “Fuck it,” and presses him against the door completely. He is taking great pleasure in the way Minseok catches him like he has wanted to do the same and he lets himself be devoured when the man kisses him breathless another time, giving up all control he has kept until then when Jongdae forces one leg between his to grind their groins together ever so slowly in a teasingly small circle.  
Minseok is now whimpering down the line, growing desperate with his need for the man rising with every passing second in which said guy doesn’t make a move to take it further or even repeat the action, his hands keeping a firm grip on Minseok’s hips to keep him still and with that from thrusting against him. Jongdae even has the audacity to smirk against his lips what earns him a quite hard nip on his lower one that the older man lets slide out between his teeth after tugging on it a little – it fulfills his goal, though, when the expression disappears but then a growl is audible before Jongdae pulls back and then takes ahold of his arm to drag him to the bed, throwing him onto it and climbing over him after shimmying his shirt off his shoulders.

“Tell me if there is one point where I should stop, do something else or give the control over to you, okay?” he asks, his painfully hot and lustful expression shifting into concern for a split instant before it becomes the way too seductive look again that has Minseok melting into the cold sheets under his naked torso.

“Yes,” he answers quietly yet truthfully, his eyes flickering back and forth between the man’s darkened orbs that now rake down his body as if he is pondering about what he should do first until they quickly flicker up to his again where they linger for a moment until the man leans down, pecking his lips before that clever mouth begins to map out his body – starting out from his jawline, over the sensitive skin below his ear, on his throat and directly over his collarbones, down his chest where they stop for some torturous seconds in which he takes one of Minseok’s nipples between his teeth to succeed in making the man’s eyes roll back into his head for the first time this evening before he goes on with his little exploration over Minseok’s stomach that takes him some more time than just few moments because his muscles really look like they can use some appreciation and attention, especially when they flex so beautifully under his touches.  
It leaves the older man quivering in anticipation and all hot and bothered in certain obvious places when Jongdae adds his fingertips to map them out, them digging into the dips of skin where it makes the man squirm – not because he is ticklish but because it feels so freaking good and he doesn’t want him to stop yet on the other hand he just wants to get to it finally before he bursts because all of this teasing is definitely effective in arousing him to the point where he can’t get any harder.

When Minseok finally gives in and moans the name of the man that manages to bring him into this situation of sweet confliction, Jongdae drags his pants and underwear down a bit as good as possible and softly bites down on the little dip where his hips meet his leg before he sucks at the spot for a few instants until it’s enough to draw out a light red bruise. Seemingly satisfied with his work, he comes up into Minseok’s view again and even if it certainly isn’t helping his current situation since the younger man looks at him as if he actually wants to eat him – not that either of them would mind at this point.

“I should have probably asked this earlier but is this your room?” Jongdae says from where he is hovering over the man, sounding way calmer and more collected than Minseok ever could act. Perhaps he does this with a lot of people, he thinks, just because he makes you feel like it doesn’t mean you’re special.

Seeming to notice the hesitation taking over him, the younger male leans down to gently knock the tips of their noses together in order to catch his attention again.

“There is no need to tell whether it is or not, I was just asking because of lube and condoms but if you don’t want to go this far it’s okay, you just have to tell me,” he whispers, soon getting his response when Minseok pulls him down completely to kiss him for a few heated moments in which he becomes aware of Jongdae’s in impatience trembling hands that are currently resting on his chest, itching to finally do something more than just touching with innocent, reluctant movements mostly over still clothed body parts. But that is not enough for either of them.

“It is my best friend’s room,” Minseok eventually states once they part again, “There is a drawer under the bed that contains everything we need. And please don’t think that I don’t want this because I really do, I’m just trying to keep myself from pouncing onto you.”

In one quick motion Jongdae pins his wrists onto the mattress while grinding his pelvis down pretty hard and with that sending shocks of pure arousal rushing through both of their bones.

“I would like to see you try,” he growls into his ear before biting down on the lobe, his lips and teeth then sliding over his neck, choosing a spot on which he can suck and nip until Minseok bucks against him with a broken groan yet it doesn’t stop the younger man from keeping up with the beautiful torture for a few more moments. During this he opens up his own pants quickly, only pulling back when he is ready to take them off. While he is preoccupied, Minseok leans over to the bedside table and flicks on a lamp before reaching down to open up the drawer, taking the needed objects out of it while the younger man strips off the rest of the cloths he has worn. Before he can come up, though, Jongdae sneaks behind him and caresses his lower back and hips, shortly later dipping his fingertips into the waistband of his shorts.

Minseok huffs out a desperate sigh at that when he lets himself fall back onto the sheets as quickly as possible, the items he has held falling on the mattress to his side. Jongdae is back over his body, hands reaching for his pants with his eyebrows raising in a silent question for permission. The older man lifts his hips slightly to make it easier for him, sighing when his hard member is finally set free from his restricting, tight pants. Yet his ability to breathe is cut short when a hot, soft hand wraps around his erection that soon slides up and down it a few times with a firm grip that manages to pull some more sounds out of his throat than just quiet little groans, his eyelids fluttering close and his mouth falling open.

Jongdae just watches, enraptured by the sight of the older man trembling under his touch, clawing at the sheets under his body in order to not dissolve in the pleasure taking over him. Yet the younger male doesn’t let him get this far and instead slips his hand down further after a few strokes to rest it where Minseok wants it the most while he reaches for the lube with his free one.  
“Will you let me do it or do you want to prepare you yourself?” he asks (still sounding so incredibly calm how is that even possible!), quickly getting a “You do it, please,” as a response because God Minseok wants the younger man to touch him and hell is his blood boiling in his veins and his breathing ability is cut way too short because Jongdae is so damn hot that’s it is almost unbearable to take with his nude body on full display where nothing hides how aroused he is at that point, too, with his hungry eyes raking over the man under him and with that igniting every inch of skin that he looks at – not to mention how he feels where Jongdae is tracing shy circles with one finger around puckering flesh.

Minseok knows he is sensitive but never to this extent until now. Nobody has ever managed to make his whole body tingle, nobody has ever gotten him this hard without doing so little but the older guy supposes that part of the reason why he is so responsive is probably because he has admired the other man for over half a year now, the male such a mystery to him that it has never mattered what he did, whether he smiled or grinned or smirked, what he wore or how he looked – Minseok has found it intriguing. And now that said man is about to blow his mind after showing him how much he desires him too, Minseok feels like he is floating whenever Jongdae does something, even if it is just blinking or a twitch of his little finger. So when there are slick digits probing against his rim, the older male spreads his legs some more while he keeps his eyes fixed on the other boy’s face – even if he knows that he won’t last long and probably never will when it comes to his guy – because he wants to witness that this is real, that the handsome stranger he has never imagined to talk to him is sitting between his thighs as he waits for him to be ready for what is about to come.

The alcohol rushing through his veins makes it easier for Minseok to relax and lets out a deep breath when he nods to symbolize him that he is ready to go.  
The corners of Jongdae’s lips twitch upwards when he slowly pushes one finger inside, stopping when he his buried all the way to his knuckles and waiting for a few instants to see if it draws out any painful sounds but when nothing follows, he begins to move – slowly, carefully and thoroughly. And Minseok does his best to keep up the contact between their gazes but when the smirk slowly fades into something more predatory and hungry, he can’t hold it any longer, especially not when a second digit is introduced and his lips fall open in a low moan at that – so he drops it onto the mattress and squeezes his eyes close.

The pace is set low for the following minutes after which Jongdae makes a move to spread them, flicking his wrist sometimes when he withdraws to slide out at a different angle than he pushes back only. It drives Minseok crazy to the point where he doesn’t even know what he is thinking anymore. The only thing that crosses his mind over and over again is the look the younger has on his face the whole time, the fact that this is not a dream and that he is mere inches away from sleeping with the object of his desire who is currently preparing him for exactly that because he wants it, has asked for it as if he really wanted to do it and not let himself do it (not that Minseok isn’t glad about this since it feels oh so good and if the man is that talented just with his fingers he can only imagine how well he can probably put his hips in use).

The third finger is a bit uncomfortable but it is always so that the older man doesn’t mind, he just tangles his own hands in the blanket besides his body to keep himself from pulling Jongdae up or at least guide his beautiful mouth on his cock because the stimulation is pretty awesome but he just needs something more by now if the man is not ready to pound into him just yet.  
It turns out that Jongdae cannot read minds and therefore doesn’t put his lips on him but he certainly is moving quicker now as if he himself can’t wait to finally do something more than this. Minseok is fairly sure that he is already stretched pretty well but he appreciates it when the younger man adds a forth and with that final finger because it hurts slightly but he at least knows that everything after this will certainly not if he is right with his assumptions.

When it becomes clear that Jongdae can’t hold himself back any longer too, he quickly scrambles up and takes two condoms, giving one to Minseok while he rips his open with his teeth before he draws it out and rolls it over his own, already pre-cum leaking erection – the quiet groan that he lets out at that does not escape the other man.  
For a moment Minseok wonders why he should put it on because the younger man certainly will not blow him but then he remembers that they are not at his own dorm, that they cannot (or should not) make a mess and he almost smiles at the thoughtfulness but he is way too turned on and has to bite his lower lip to keep in the moan that tries to make it out when he covers himself in the tight rubber. As soon as he is finished, Jongdae pounces on him and almost throws his body back onto the bed when their mouths collide in a rushed urgency. The younger man finds himself nestled between Minseok’s legs, their members trapped between their bodies but it is not enough yet so he grinds his pelvis down and pulls a choked whine from the other man’s throat when he throws his head back with his eyes fluttering open. It too much but in the same moment he needs more – so much more at that because his whole body aches, screams to be taken by the man he desires so much.

“Please,” he whimpers, “Just get inside of me already.”

Jongdae can’t be faster to slick and position himself, getting a rapid nod that tells him that he can push in. And Minseok wants to cry out at the sensation because it has been way too long and it feels way too good to be true when the man’s pelvis rests against his butt to give him a few moments of getting used to the situation – another thing that he is grateful about because Jongdae really seems to know what he is doing and Minseok can’t be any gladder about this when he takes a few deep breaths to get rid of the uncomfortableness that is not exactly painful but still strange enough that he wants it to go away.

At least until Jongdae pulls back before he thrusts back in not too slowly and gently while he leans down to press a few sloppy kisses to the side of his neck as he does so.  
When it comes to this man, Minseok decides, he probably will never be able to catch his breath because with every movement of his hips there is another, harder wave of pleasure that washes over him. It leaves him completely unable to do anything but moan while his arms come up to wrap around his shoulders, fingertips digging into his skin a bit but the man doesn’t seem to mind when he speeds up a little more, obviously having found a pace that satisfies him to the roots too when his mouth opens to let single groans, whimpers and moans escape that sound so incredibly erotic that Minseok wants to cover his ears because at this rate he will come faster than he should and probably embarrass himself with how little he has held out.

Deciding that things can’t continue like this – since Jongdae has done most of everything tonight – he quickly changes their positions so that he is sitting on the male’s hips and looks down at him with his bottom lip captured between his teeth while leans back and put his palms on the other’s thighs to keep himself steady before he begins to bounce on his lap, all while keeping his eyes fixed on Jongdae’s face. The latter’s expression changes from surprise into that stupid smirk and then it fades into undeniable pleasure when his eyes roll back into his head with a low moan trembling from his opened mouth. And as much as Minseok wants to watch to remember this view until the day he dies, he is not able to do so any longer when this angle pushes the man’s dick against the little bundle of nerves that makes stars explode in front of his own eyes and pulls a broken wail from his throat when Jongdae pounds his own hips upwards to help him to encounter the same spot over and over again until he is sure that he will burst open.  
Heat and so much pleasure is coiling in the pit of his stomach, spreading from there through his whole body, and it threatens to be set free but he doesn’t want to come just yet since it feels so amazing and the man under him is so fucking hot that all of this can’t be true but if he stops or lets his release wash over him, this dream will end and that’s all that it will be – a dream far from reality. Yet the fingers holding his sides tightly feel so real, just like everything else about the whole situation and he really is not able to hold it back any longer, so his high breaks free and he cries out too loudly for his own liking but on the other hand he doesn’t care about this at all because falling over the edge is the biggest cherry on top of the most delicious sundae and it lasts so long because Jongdae is still snapping his hips upwards at an erratic pace to the point where the overstimulation is probably a bit too much but then his own name rings in Minseok’s ears in a voice he wants to record so that he can play it whenever he needs it. It sounds so incredibly hot that he suspects that he could probably come another time just by the sound of it if he just wasn’t so worn out and hadn’t just reached the hardest release in such a long time.

Totally worn out, he lets himself fall onto his side, focusing on trying not to let something slip out of both condoms and Jongdae then leans over to the bedside table where a box of tissues is seated to get rid of them.  
After throwing them in the bin and making sure that they really haven’t made a mess, they just lie side by side on the bed with their chests still heaving slightly due to the effort they have been putting up. For the first time in his life Minseok doesn’t feel like he should cover himself up and he is not really sure if this is because of the alcohol or because of the fact that they really don’t know each other but he actually can’t care any less.

Perhaps Jongdae is able to read minds, though, because when he speaks up it’s exactly about this topic.

“My favorite color is pink and I love to sing,” he states, “I thought you maybe should know that so that you don’t consider me a stranger anymore.”

“After we just have done I certainly didn’t think so,” Minseok chuckles and turns his head a bit to catch that the other guy is already looking at him with a tired smile, “But good to know. I like singing too, and it’s extremely manly that you confess this so openly because most guys certainly wouldn’t dare to do so but it’s good to know. I am currently working for my PhD.”

“Smart guy, huh?” a chuckle slips past his lips, “I wouldn’t have imagined any less when it comes to you so it’s not really surprising. I-“ a yawn cuts him off and makes the words he has wanted to utter completely inaudible. Minseok finds it incredibly cute to see how he squeezes his eyes close while he tries to keep his mouth shut (not succeeding) and a squeaking noise ringing through the room. But before he can actually giggle about it, Jongdae speaks up again.

“I’m sorry, I’m pretty exhausted right now.”

“That makes two of us,” Minseok says quietly and smiles at him softly, “No need to apologize.”

“Why don’t we sleep then and get to know each other in the morning?” the man suggests and sits up to look for his shorts, jumping up when he spots them and throwing Minseok his ones too.

“Sounds like a pretty good idea to me,” he answers and puts them on quickly before he pats the still warm open space next to him in a silent invitation that the other man willingly follows when he falls down by Minseok’s side after flicking off the lamp.

After some shuffling to get under the covers, they settle in a comfortable position.  
Minseok briefly wonders how pissed Baekhyun will be when he finds out that he can’t come to sleep in his own room for obvious reasons but the older man can’t bring himself to care because he is still a little drunk and there is an incredibly handsome guy pulling him close to cuddle and he actually has just done what his friend has told him to do so he won’t be able to say anything (he has defiled his couch, Minseok reminds himself when he starts to feel bad and immediately is a little better).  
All sounds from the party downstairs and around them fade when sleep is reaching out for them, the older of the two with a bright smile on his lips while the other man is already on his way to dreamland.

Yet when Minseok wakes up the next morning he knows that something is different than it should be. It only occurs to him that the bed is too cold when he pats the mattress by his side and realizes that the space that should be filled with a certain male is empty. For a short period of time he wonders if yesterday was in fact just a dream but then he opens his eyes and sees that he still is in Baekhyun’s room with the sun just rising through the window and an arrow of sorrow is shooting through his heart when he becomes aware that he is alone. Jongdae has left.


	3. The Second Case

It is not even six in the morning, Minseok asserts when he stumbles from Baekhyun’s bedroom through the hallways where clothes, people and confetti (where the hell does that come from) are scattered. The smell of old alcohol and too many persons hits the man when he carefully avoids stepping on limbs or heads as he makes his way to the kitchen after putting on the clothes he has worn yesterday, since his throat feels like it could use some moisturizer.  
There is a light, dull pain in his lower backside, reminding him that last night wasn’t a dream and that Jongdae had really left him in the middle of the night instead of staying like he promised to get to know each other. Somehow, Minseok feels incredibly disappointed at that with only a bit more as a hint of sadness and regret spreading through his chest when he looks around and tries to spot the young man – hoping that he maybe just wanted to get a glass of water to only to crawl back into bed with him before Minseok would have even become aware that he was missing. But when the male steps through each and every room and doesn’t find him anywhere, he eventually gives up altogether and comes to terms with the fact that maybe he has misread yesterday's promise.

Some bottles are lying on their sides, spilling various fluids over the counter, table and floor of the kitchen. The sight alone makes Minseok’s nose scrunch up in disgust, especially when the everything but good smell hits his nose when he is on his way to the fridge.  
One of Baekhyun’s roomies always makes sure that they have water saved in there, wanting to have it cold whenever he needs it so that Minseok is fairly sure that he is going to find what he needs – which he does when he opens one of the doors. Before he can take one of the bottles out, though, somebody behind him speaks up.

“May I know where you have been the whole night, young man?”

Sighing quietly because he has thought that he maybe wouldn’t be yelled at before the sun was up completely at least, Minseok hangs his head in defeat and answers his friend. “I surely wasn’t in your room with that ‘one hot little guy’ as you always call him.”

When he has one bottle in a hand, he turns around to be greeted with Baekhyun who has both hands propped up on his hips with a mock annoyed expression but Minseok sees behind the façade he has put up for the world to admire, and catches the proud smile the younger man works so hard to suppress.Sometimes, he thinks, Baekhyun is strange for liking the things he does.

“You better not have deflowered my bed,” he scoffs and rolls his eyes but Minseok just chuckles at the desperate attempt to look stern. Baekhyun really does look ridiculous, though.

The older man just smiles innocently and shrugs while he undoes the bottle’s cap and takes a sip before he speaks up again. “I don’t believe that your bed was a virgin to begin with but whatever. And I’m sorry to disappoint you but we, in fact, did defile it.”

He expects a lot of things from the younger male – he could scream at him for doing so (since screaming is one of Baekhyun’s favorite things do to), he could slap him and tell him that this is not something you do to your best friend or his bed for the matter, he expects him to just shake his head in disappointment before he walks away with a dramatic fake-snivel. What he definitely doesn’t expect, though, is that Baekhyun damn near jumps onto him and hugs him so tightly that he is unable to breathe for a few seconds.

“I am so proud of you!” he squeals and shakes him like one would do it with a lifeless doll, “You finally did it! Do you know how frustrating it was to see you always staring after him with that longing expression?”

“Very?” Minseok wheezes and tries to pull back a bit but the grip his friend has on him is too strong for the moment so he holds out with his eyes squeezed close while he focuses on breathing through the pain the man causes him.

“More than that!” Baekhyun finally pulls back and grins at him with his hand still grasping his shoulders tightly as he lets his gaze trail down the man, eyes raking over the two hickeys that barely peek out from under his collar, just a hint of the red marks is visible but it seems enough to satisfy the younger man.

“How was it?” he asks and pulls him over to the table, motioning for him to sit down while he does the same and stares at Minseok with his eyes wide opened in excitement. This is one of the situations in which the older man wonders why exactly they are friends.  
He shrugs and casts his gaze downwards, catching that some water has splashed out from the bottle during the rushed hug. Not that it matters with all the alcohol that is sticking to every surface in this room.

“Good I guess?”

Baekhyun’s face falls at that and he cocks his head to one side a little while a worried expression ghosts over his features. Even somebody who isn’t as close as they are would notice that this doesn’t sound like he means it at all and if he doesn’t, Baekhyun thinks that there are a few things that could have happened that night – and he needs to know if he has to kill that stranger for hurting his best friend or making him uncomfortable in any kind of way, and Baekhyun really hopes that it wasn’t either of these two options just like he hopes that the stranger didn’t do anything Minseok didn’t want to because forcing the man into something he didn’t want or like to do would be incredibly worse, especially for him.

“What’s the matter?” he asks quietly.

Minseok sighs while he fiddles the cap on the bottle again before he stars to play with the label. He somehow feels like a teenager again that needs to tell his best friend how his crush is not as wonderful as both of them have thought in the beginning.

“I know that it counts as a one night stand and I know how those normally go but I… I don’t know. Before we went to sleep he said that he wanted to get to know me better and cuddled me but he was gone when I woke up. No note with his number or that he is sorry somewhere and he isn’t around anymore either. I just thought that maybe I… the night meant something to him but I guess I was wrong.”

Now he is smiling a bit bitterly. There is a hint of sorrow accompanying his words when he looks up and catches Baekhyun’s pitiful gaze that already seems to hint that the younger man is seconds away from hugging him close again until he is grinning. As much as he can be a loud, obnoxious, way too extroverted and open idiot, he actually is a softhearted man and a way better friend than one would imagine because it is not hard for him to put himself in one’s situation and with that understand how one is feeling.

“I’m sorry for you, hyung, are you sure that he hasn’t said anything else last night? Anything that could explain where he is right now?”

Minseok nods his head and places the bottle on the table because he has already ripped off the label and doesn’t want to make it any worse when he fiddles with the cap until he will not even be able to close it again.

"I quote, ‘Why don’t we sleep and get to know each other in the morning?’. That was all.” Now he shakes his head, “I was a naïve idiot to think that he was really interested in me, I should have known since the beginning. It was all too quick yesterday. I mean we haven’t even said five sentences to each other before sleeping together.”

Baekhyun reaches out for him and pulls him into his arms gently, now holding him a certain lot more gingerly and reassuringly than before in order to calm his friend down a little, to help him center himself and make him feel more wanted than he thinks he is in that moment, one of his hands trailing over his back while the other cups his nape to keep him close. Minseok closes his eyes and huffs out another sigh but then he wraps his own arms around the other guy who has always been good at providing security and making one feel a lot more reassured.

“He is an asshole for leaving you and raising false hopes,” Baekhyun states quietly, his voice merely above a whisper, “I at least hope that he hasn’t physically hurt you in any kind of way.”

“He hasn’t,” Minseok remarks and smiles softly as memories float his mind of Jongdae sitting between his legs as he prepared him, of him waiting before he moved, of how he had taken care of him. “He was very cautious and attentive and he has made sure that I knew that I could have stopped him any second if he had done something I didn’t like – which he didn’t by the way because he really does know how to make one feel great.”

Baekhyun pulls back slightly and smiles at him, reassured that the stranger leaving is the only thing that bothers his friend because this is something that can be fixed easily.

“Then you have finally gotten laid and everything is fine. You satisfied your craving for him, you have finally taken part in a party and we are finally even in defiling each other’s dorms. Now go and take a shower while I pick some of my clothes for you to wear.”

Minseok chuckles quietly and shakes his head while he searches for his friend’s eyes, the warmness that greets him when their gazes meet sending a bolt of security and strength through him. Oh, so that is why they are friends.

“Thanks but I would really rather go home.”

“You sure?” he asks and hunches his eyebrows together while his expression flickers into concern again, “Shall I come with you?”

“Baekhyun really, it’s fine. I’m not in love with him or anything, I’m good. There are just so many strangers around and I don’t want to be here when all of them wake up.”

That is how he ended up in his own apartment with short, grey sweatpants that barely cover his knees and a blank top with cut arms that hugs his still a little damp upper body after a long, hot shower to get rid of all traces the last night has left on him. Sadly, the water hasn’t been able to wash away the marks on his throat and his hip but Minseok refuses to think about them or the reason to why they are there exactly, he refuses to let this ruin his actually pretty good mood when he prepares himself something to eat even though the clock has not even struck eight and brings his plate with the pancakes on it over to the couch where he lets himself plop down with a happy sigh.  
Ever since he has begun to take morning shifts in the café, he hasn’t been able to do something like this and even if he doesn’t consider six in the morning ‘sleeping in’, it is nice to know that he doesn’t have to be anywhere but at his own home this day now that exams are over and it is not weekend yet.  
When Minseok turns on the TV, though, the fork that he wanted to use to guide a bit of pancake to his mouth stops in its movement when he sees what’s on the news.

A woman in a tight, blue dress is standing in front of the typical orange background of the channel, a picture of a single house plastered besides her body while she is talking.

**“-one of the bigger tragedies. A middle aged man named Park Hyukjeong, father of two sons, has been found dead in his bathtub this morning around 6 am when his wife came home from her nightshift. Police officers have confirmed that the 35 year old man has been stabbed several times before he has been burned to destroy any evidences. According to his wife, her kids had been with their grandparents during this time because of which nobody else has been hurt since Park had been home alone. Nobody has witnessed anything, the police is thankful for any hints of strangers that may have a clue about what has happened this night to cause a young family to be broken apart so forcefully.”**

A picture of the man is shown. He has black, short hair and is fairly thin while he is standing beside a young woman that smiles about as brightly as him. Every of the adults is holding one of their sons who seem to be just a few years apart but still small, the elder of them probably just entered elementary school.

Suddenly, Minseok feels sick so places the fork back on his plate which he then rests on the table in front of his knees while his gaze still doesn’t break away from the TV. He is now leaning forwards with his forearms resting on his thighs as he listens to the journalist saying a name he knows all too well.

“A policeman of Seoul’s sheriff’s office, Do Kyungsoo, has confirmed that the only trace of the murderer has been a small white card with a red ‘C’ printed on it that had been stuffed into the man’s mouth as good as possible. Yet nobody knows what to do with this information or why it had been left there. For any further information, you can look up our website at-“

Minseok turns off the TV before hears anything else and reaches inside his pocket to take his phone out. The number he is looking for is one of the first he sees because they call each other quite often, yet not under those circumstances. Kyungsoo has not been a policeman for too long, he is just fresh out of school but due to the way he can follow each and every trace as if he can read the people who left them makes him one of the biggest and most promising additions to every team.

It rings exactly three times before the man picks up and with the first word, Minseok already knows that he is stressed and has probably been running around the office all day long with how breathless he sounds.

_“Yes, hyung?”_ he asks and quickly curses right after when it sounds like he drops something.

“I saw the news,” Minseok says, knowing that he won’t have to say anything else since the younger man probably hasn’t thought about anything other than the dead man ever since they have found him.

_“I’ve guessed so,”_ Kyungsoo hisses before he says something to somebody else, _“Listen, I’m pretty busy now but if you want to we can meet up somewhere for lunch of you don’t have anything else to do.”_

Nodding although his friend is not able to see it, Minseok accepts the offer. “Sure. You can come over if you want, I will cook you something.”

_“Sounds great, hyung. See you!”_

With that he hangs up and leaves the older man on his own again, staring at his phone silently for a few moments before he turns it off and stands up to get rid of the breakfast that still stands on the table completely untouched.

Incidents like this always make sure to leave him completely unable to eat a single thing because he just can’t get the family out of his head. He thinks of how the wife must have come home after a long shift – tired and just waiting to kiss her husband before she goes to bed. She calls out for him because he must be around, right? And when she enters the bathroom all she sees is the love of her life burned in the bathtub with a piece of paper stuffed into his mouth after he was brutally murdered. She must have screamed as panic arose inside of her and she has stumbled back, unable to do anything else but scream until she found the strength to call the police, to tell them what she has just found and that she thinks that this must be her husband because he has been home all night, waiting for her and that she maybe thinks that she could have done something if she had just been there and not working before she thinks about her children and what would have happened if they had been around – not to mention that she will have to raise them on their own because her husband has been a victim of a murderer.  
Shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts that give him shivers, Minseok slowly begins to walk into the direction of the kitchen while he tries to recall what Kyungsoo’s favorite food is.

It is not like he wants any details on the case or anything like that but he knows Kyungsoo and even if the man seems to be completely cold and untouchable, Minseok knows that homicide, especially on woman or families, still are a sensitive topic for him even if he knows how to mentally cope with them so, being the dutiful hyung he is, he feels kind of responsible to take care of his younger friend in situation like this, what causes him to quickly change his clothes another time to get out and pick up some groceries if he wants to cook something he knows Kyungsoo will surely like.

When Minseok steps out of his apartment, he notices that the sun is already burning down on them again, heating up the earth even though it is just that early in the morning. Minseok almost regrets taking his jacket with him since he knows that he will absolutely not need it but he is already on his way to the grocery store so he doesn’t turn around just to bring it back.  
A lot of people are already out, hurrying to one place or another without looking around them or watching their steps. It sometimes makes Minseok sad to know how far their society has come that keeping appointments seems to be more important than people’s own families or the normal view on their surroundings like the way the sun is peeking over and through the high buildings around the city or the birds flying around now that it is not too hot do so just yet. When midday or afternoon comes around the temperatures will surely climb up to levels where one cannot go out without a fan attached to the top of their heads to blow cool air on their faces.  
Smiling silently to himself at the thought of this and the ridiculous picture that comes with it, Minseok skips down the sideway. The way from his home to the store is not long, merely ten minutes so he reaches it quickly.

One of his favorite cashiers is currently sitting in front of the only opened check-outs. The elder woman smiles at him when he waves at her while bowing slightly to show her the respect she deserves before he gets a little shopping basks and makes his way through the aisles to find whatever he needs to cook Kyungsoo something proper to take his mind off of the case. Knowing the man, he will most likely not eat very much but the least Minseok can do is try and get him to fill his stomach somewhat so he gathers what he knows his friend likes – fresh vegetables, some fruits, potatoes, some meat and some sweets, just because he wants to.  
There are not many people around yet since most of them are at work, the day being Thursday morning, what makes it more acceptable that he isn’t in his own four walls since he doesn’t have to talk to certain people or make sure he doesn’t bump into anybody when he checks the time on his phone and answers the messages Baekhyun has sent him to make sure that he really was alright all while walking towards the cash register.

“And here I thought you were different from most young people!” the woman jokes when he comes to stop in front of her while looking up from his phone.

Minseok quickly gets red cheeks and hides the electronic device in his pocket as fast as possible while mumbling, “I’m sorry, Ma’am.”

She just waves it off with a small laugh and a shake of her head, “It is all fine, sweetheart, I was just messing with you.”

Then she casts her gaze downwards on the groceries he has placed on the conveyor belt previously while he had still been immersed in the messages Baekhyun has sent him (‘So. Many. Bottles. I didn’t even know we had that much alcohol! And why the heck am I the only one who makes a move to clean up?! And why the hell did you stay around to help me? You love cleaning!’).

“Have you heard about what has happened to this man? They have said it on the radio when I just stood up, it must have happened just half an hour or so before.”

Minseok nods slowly, the face of the man coming back into his mind as if he had watched the picture for over an hour and not only a minute – stabbed to death, burned, humiliated.

“Yeah, I have seen it on the news. I don’t know how anybody could have a good enough reason to do something like this.” His voice sounds strangely tight, as if he hasn’t spoken in a long time.

The woman scoffs as she drags each of the items over the glass space in front of her, making beeping noises appear whenever she does so. Minseok wonders how she hasn’t gone crazy already when she hears this every day, all day long.

“That is because there really is no reason to do something like this! He has a family, for God’s sake, how bad could that guy have been?” she shakes her head another time and sighs quietly, “I am starting to lose faith in humanity at this rate. Wasn’t there a case like this about half a year ago already?”

Now that she is speaking of it, Minseok remembers that there has indeed been an incident that reminds strongly of the situation right now. A man has been found in his own home, yet lying in the bed but he had been stabbed and burned, too. The only things that is different, is that the card with the ‘C’ was missing.

“You are right,” he confirms and tries to find some other information in his head, something that he could tell Kyungsoo if the younger man hasn’t thought of it by himself already, yet he can’t seem to recall anything else other than that it has happened shortly after this semester has begun. But it had been a younger man, hadn’t it?

“But that one was my age, if I remember correctly.”

“Oh yes, poor soul. I was worried for you after this! You don’t know how many sick people are out there, little man, you have to take care of you and of the people you get to know!” the woman all but scolds him, holding an accusing finger out and pointing at him at that but there is an amused smile playing on her soft features that makes Minseok grin too as he nods and raises both hands in defeat.

“I will watch out, I promise!”

Just three hours later, there is a knock on his door when Minseok is elbow-deep covered in eggs and bread crumbs. He doesn’t expect Kyungsoo already but he has been fairly sure that Baekhyun is coming around at some point until then so he rolls his eyes because Minseok knows that the younger man always takes his spare key with him whenever he visits him and yells out, “Come in!” in order to avoid having to wash his hands first.  
He has been right, judging by the sound of a door being unlocked and Baekhyun calling out, “I’m home!” like he always does when he visits before the door falls shut again. The older man rolls his eyes again, yet this time a little fonder than previously when he crumbs the little pieces of meat and informs his friend where he is to be found.  
Not even a minute later, Baekhyun is sneaking up on him and Minseok would have probably been scared when there are two fingers pinching his sides if the younger man just didn’t do it every time he comes to see him. So he just squirms a bit because he still is ticklish but just throws a mock angry gaze over his shoulder that makes Baekhyun step back with an all too innocent smile.

“You are cooking something?” he asks and peeks over his friend’s shoulder to see what exactly he is doing.

“No,” Minseok answers, “I try to bake a meat-pie. Of course I am, Baek, what does it look like?”

“Something delicious,” he states and places his chin on the man’s frame from his position. Baekhyun has always been looking for body contact and he probably always will, Minseok thinks, and even if he doesn’t necessarily needs it or wants it all of the time, it is pretty common between them so he is not complaining since he always knows that whenever his friend isn’t initiating contact something is incredibly wrong.

Minseok chuckles in response but he continues with what he is doing until every of the little pieces is covered in eggs and crumbs after it. Now he just has to decide if he wants to roast or-

“You should fry it,” Baekhyun answers the unspoken question and it once again makes the older of the two aware of the amount of time they have spent together that his friends knows what he is thinking just because of his fingers halting while he ponders over the next step.

“You are creepy when you read my mind,” Minseok states and shakes his head slightly, making Baekhyun huff out in an annoyed manner when his blonde hair is tickling the side of the younger guy’s face but he doesn’t say anything, not when the older man reaches over, picks up a piece of paprika and holds it out for him to eat. He takes it without hesitating before he speaks up while chewing, “Why are you cooking though?”

“First of all: gross, swallow first before you talk to me,” Minseok scolds him but there is no venom in his voice, just a little fond annoyance maybe, “And I cook for Kyungsoo because he is coming over for lunch and needs some good nutrition for this day.”

Of course Minseok knows exactly what will follow now.

“You will absolutely make sure that your bestest friend in the whole universe will get some of the food, too, right?” Baekhyun asks in an utterly disgusting sweet voice that would have probably worked the night before on one of the strangers that could have maybe made it to his bed if the young male would have wanted that (and if his bed would have been free but the older guy still deliberately refuses to think of that).

Minseok nods anyway because he also knows that his friend would probably just go out to get some fast food again and eating fries and burgers on daily basis is surely not going to do him any good. He purposely ignores the fact that he is going to fry the meat too because he will at least serve vegetables with it.

“But only if you help me.”

It’s almost one when Kyungsoo is sitting in the living room where Minseok has been seated when he has watched the news, yet this time he is actually eating instead of pushing the food on his plate from one side to another while he listens to the story the younger man is telling him even though he is not allowed to do so. Kyungsoo has taken the top of his uniform off and is just sitting snuggled into the covers in a white shirt since Minseok has been right when he assumed that the temperatures would climb until it was unbearably hot outside again.

“I’ve been with the first to arrive,” Kyungsoo begins as he stabs one piece of chicken, his gazes casted downwards onto his plate – to avoid how his older friends are looking as him, Minseok assumes but he doesn’t say anything about it, “We were four, two of them watching over the wife and children while Jongin and I were looking for the body.”

He swallows and shakes his head quickly while he sits up a bit straighter. “He had several burns all over his body but it probably wasn’t the cause of death. Whoever it was has stabbed him multiple times before setting him on fire just for a few moments. I don’t even know if he was already dead or if he still felt anything but either way it is horrible enough to make me want to throw up. Seriously, you guys can’t even imagine how he looked and smelled like.”

An involuntary shudder ghosts over his body and he shakes his head another time before he rests the plate on his crossed legs while he gazes up at the other two man for a few moments without saying anything. Minseok reaches out for him but when he notices that the younger guy unintentionally flinches, he sits back and smiles at him somewhat more pitifully than reassuringly.

He feels a little helpless when he watches his friend like this. Kyungsoo is right, he cannot imagine what it must have been like to stand in the room where the body was found and he certainly cannot comprehend how his wife must have felt like even if his brain shows him the same sequence over and over again as if he has been with her when she found him. He begins to shake at that thought and quickly focuses on Kyungsoo again to get rid of the picture that spreads in his head at that again. It feels like a déjà vu somehow.

“Anyway, the team brought him to the morgue and now we can only wait for what the forensics say. If they already have a clue what could have happened, it would help us a great deal. What we now need are evidences or even hints because his wife is still too shocked to speak and nobody wants to interrogate the little children,” he ends his little exploration and starts to eat. Just all slowly and only a little at a time but Minseok still counts it as something – better than nothing anyway.

“So you basically have no clue yet?” Baekhyun asks as tactfully as possible after he has listened with wide opened eyes and an (for him) unusual big attention. He is sitting on the floor and has quietly destroyed nearly all of his food while listening to the explanation.

Kyungsoo nods silently while he chews and helplessly looks over the oldest of the three, shrugging without saying a word as if he cannot even find the right words to say out loud. He probably actually can’t.  
Minseok casts his gaze downwards on the floor and hums quietly before he speaks up, “Are there any connections to that guy that has been murdered half a year ago?” he asks, “I mean the case is almost the same if it was not for the age difference and the missing ‘C’-card.”

Kyungsoo leans back in his seat and lets his head drop back on the backrest with a sigh, “I thought about that as well but the thing is that this case is open too. Nobody has ever found out anything about it because there hasn’t even been a trace that could have led to the murderer. So even if there is a connection – the only thing that we know then is that the same person has killed two humans without leaving evidences of their own existence.”

Baekhyun huffs out a frustrated sigh at that while he places his almost empty plate on the couch table, biting down on his lower lip before speaking up. “But there has to be something, right? Nobody is good enough to not leave anything!”

Kyungsoo shrugs another time before he answers after some more seconds of not saying anything. “It seems like it is possible. Or a ghost has decided that killing people is fun and that is why nobody has found even a single hair or half a fingerprint or something.”

He is looking at Minseok a little apologetically when he places his plate on the table too, yet his is fuller – as if he hasn’t touched anything.  
The older man doesn’t mind, of course, even though he worries about his friend’s well-being that would unavoidably be in danger if he kept up with not eating much or anything, he wouldn’t force him to eat just yet. Kyungsoo is a grown man, he can take care of himself although Minseok will always care about him like he did when they were younger – and worrying is one of a the key factors in that.

“We can only hope that it is not a serial killer,” he continues after sitting back down again, “They kill without having a relationship to their victims most of the times, they just pick out random persons. That makes it so difficult to catch them but it would fit since most of them always stick to a certain pattern and don’t change anything so if there is another victim that is stabbed and burned we will probably know. If that is the case, we can only hope that he or she eventually makes a mistake that leads to them.”

“How high are the chances for that happening?” Minseok wants to know with his voice merely above a whisper. Kyungsoo holds out two fingers that are almost pressed together, only a tiny space – not even an inch – in between them. It is the only answer he gives but it is also anything he has to do because the other two men understand him without words. If it really is a serial killer, all three of them could be the next victim, just like everybody else out there on the open streets.

It is almost eight in the evening when Minseok thinks of the last night again. He has been vacuuming his bedroom when his gazes falls upon his phone and he gets an idea that somehow gets his hopes up a little. So he turns off the device, rolls the wire and tucks it around the handle and quickly puts the vacuum cleaner in its cupboard that stays in the hallway before he picks up his phone.  
After Baekhyun has been with him, there hasn’t been a reason for the younger man to text him another time right now and since Kyungsoo has been busy with work ever since he has returned to the office there weren’t any messages of somebody else. Yet Minseok still thinks that he has maybe missed something.

He lets himself fall down on the bed with his back first, both hands securely wrapped around his phone so that he doesn’t drop it onto his face in process and he settles against his pillow as he opens his contacts with his heart beating slightly over its average rhythm. It doesn’t take him long to scroll down and encounter what he has been looking for and it draws a small smile on his lips after the pang of disappointment when there was nothing when he was past “J” only to realize that the stranger had in fact saved himself as “Last night’s ons” as if Minseok would have forgotten about his name.

Without further ado he does what everybody would do in his situation – he texts his best friend.

_You [07:56pm]: Baek. He didn’t just leave me._

_Baaaek [07:57pm]: Don’t tell me you are pregnant and that this is what he left behind._

Minseok sighs at the distinct proof that his best friend is not a serious person and that he still has a terrible sense of humor even if Baekhyun himself thinks that he is hilarious although most people swear that he is more ridiculous than anything.

_You [07:57pm]: No, some of us actually know how to use a condom._

_Baaaek [07:58pm]: Fair enough. But really, what is left of him?_

_You [07:59pm]: He saved his number in my phone without me realizing it._

It shouldn’t come as a surprise when said phone begins ringing but Minseok still drops the electronic device onto his chest in shock before he is able to accept the call.

“Yeah?” he asks into the speaker only to be yelled at not even a second later.

_“You’ve got to be kidding me!”_ Baekhyun scolds him, _“You tell me that you searched our whole apartment for him but that you didn’t even think about checking your phone for this purpose?”_

Minseok winces as he sits up again while he holds the phone away from his ear in order to avoid sudden deafness due to a bursting eardrum since Baekhyun’s loud voice is anything but pleasant.

“I’m sorry okay? I haven’t thought about that! I didn’t even think that he took notice of it since it was my pocket and… well I didn’t pay any attention to his pockets either! I had other things to think about it that moment!”

A sigh is heard through the speaker while something ruffles as if Baekhyun is rolling around in his bed. Knowing him, he probably is since the man is quite lazy sometimes and Minseok probably interrupted him playing video games or something.

_“Whatever, just text him and then tell me what he said. Before you ask, you can either message something like ‘Hey there, last night was great’ or ‘You are an asshole for leaving’ or-“_

“I already know what to say,” Minseok defends himself although his voice sounds a little quieter and more unsure that he would like it.

Judging by the way the other man stays silent for a while, he hasn’t expected this but he still lets out an impressed whistle before he speaks up again. “I didn’t see that coming,” he admits, “but I’m proud of you. I still want to know what he said so you either call me before you go to bed or you send me screenshots.”

_“Will do, boss,”_ Minseok chuckles as he rolls his eyes, _“talk to you later.”_

He hangs up before the younger man can say something else.

From then on it takes him a few moments before he actually sends what he has wanted to text Jongdae. During this time he battles with himself if he even should write him since their encounter has happened just a day (not even 24 hours) before and he doesn’t want to come off as clingy or obtrusive and with that chase away the man – but he also really wants to know why they didn’t talk in the morning, why Jongdae hasn’t been there while he had promised it and if Jongdae has just given him his number to apologize for disappearing or because he genuinely wants to get to know him.  
So he quickly presses ‘Send’ before he can think about it too much and he stares at the message for a few seconds before he lets himself fall back against the sheets to ponder whether this has been a good idea or not.

_You [08:14pm]: Was ‘the guy you slept with last night’ too long as a contact name or do you prefer keeping it as anonymous as possible and that’s why you didn’t type your own name?_

And then the torture of waiting begins and no matter how patient Minseok is, he cannot wait to get a response yet when the evening flows by and fades into the night without getting a single message back, he comes to think that maybe he won’t get an answer at all for today. So he goes to bed when the clock strikes eleven with his phone kept on loud just in case the other man reads it and decides to answer but no matter how hard he tries, how much he tosses and turns and how tightly Minseok closes his eyes, he can’t get Jongdae out of his head and it keeps him from drifting off for quite a long time.  
When he does, though, he all dreams of are gentle, small hands holding him close, a beautiful body moving in synrchoniation with his own and a voice that makes him shudder with its sound alone.


	4. Unavailable

A week has to pass by until he realizes that there won’t be an answer to his messages.

Minseok has sent just a few, stuff like _“Hello?”_ and _“I seriously hope you are okay…”_ before he finds it ridiculous since they really don’t know each other and the younger man still has a good reason to not answer him, so he lets it be after this week – mostly because Saturday and Sunday work holds him busy and Monday is his typical Baekhyun-Day where they go out and do stuff together that keeps his mind occupied from anything like men he has slept with one time while being intoxicated.  
Yet it actually is Baekhyun, who has decided to sleep over at his, that brings his focus back on Jongdae once one more when they sit on his sofa while watching a movie with a bowl filled with popcorn standing in between them.

“What do you and your lover normally text each other?” he asks with his gazes still completely fixed on the brightly flickering surface of Minseok’s TV, his eyes following the female protagonist running through the house with a towel clinging onto her head while her bathrobe flutters around her frame. Neither of the two is interested in women so when she drops it to reveal a set of lacy underwear underneath it, they don’t even flinch but instead continue to watch utterly unimpressed.  
Sadly, it also isn’t enough to keep Minseok’s attention on the film but instead on exactly what his best friend has just asked so that he cannot even pretend like he hasn’t heard what he wants to know.

“Nothing,” he mutters and buries his left hand in fluffy, popped corn again as he tries to avoid looking at the younger man, “he didn’t text back a single time so…”

With a bugged groan, Baekhyun lets his head fall against the backrest while he throws his arms in the air to show his distress – Minseok wonders why this seems to get more on his friend’s nerves than on his own until he remembers who exactly his friend is.

Baekhyun has always been one to jump to your defense, be it in front of others who talk shit about you, in front of your parents who lecture you for completely unnecessary things or things you haven’t even done or be it because of somebody you have a crush on or that you find attractive that doesn’t appreciate you in the same kind of way. Whenever something like this happens, Baekhyun always makes sure that he has your back and talks back when you don’t, hits when you won’t or rages for you if you don’t find the strength so it doesn’t really come as a surprise when he now chafes over the stranger.

“Seriously?” he exclaims and then sits up to look at Minseok with his eyebrows raised in utter disbelieve, “You know, I really did like him. He is cute, he looks good, he has an exceedingly nice smile and when you told me that he always looks for you too I actually thought that things could work out between you two – especially after I saw you guys together at the party. But now he just behaves like an incredibly big asshole.”

Minseok wants to interrupt and say something, he wants to defend Jongdae and tell his best friend anything to his defense but he knows from experience that when Baekhyun is in one of those phases, you should not interrupt him until he is definitely finished because otherwise his rage can turn against you instead of being to your help. So Minseok lets him ramble on and just bites his lower lip while he waits and pays attention.

“It is one thing to sleep with a person and disappear in the middle of the night without saying anything or even leaving a little note but telling somebody that one wants to know another after sleeping together and then disappearing in the middle of the night but placing his number in your phone only to not respond to any of your messages is an entirely different and I swear that if I see him on the campus, I will make sure to spit on his shoes and probably hit him with it too because this is just such an asshole-move!”

He takes in a deep breath and lets himself fall back into the soft cushions again while muttering, “Good, I’m finished now.”

“Perhaps there is just something wrong with his phone?” Minseok suggests in a quiet voice as he plays with a bit of popcorn between his fingers, still purposely avoiding looking his best friend in the eye. He knows that he is looking for excuses and that all of this just sounds like he desperately wants to find a reason to why the stranger isn’t talking to him that doesn’t fall under the category ‘He is just not interested’ but he cannot bring himself to think about it like this yet. Not with Jongdae at least, not when Jongdae is the beautiful man that always smiles at him in the hallways and makes his days a little sweeter – and not just because of such a stupid reason like sex.  
On the other hand, if the young man really was just interested in him for his body and nothing else, it would probably do him better in just accepting his fate but he still doesn’t want to believe it at this point. There really is a possibility that the stranger’s phone is broken or that he has turned it off for the week after the exams to just enjoy life without the electronic device getting in his way.

The look Baekhyun shoots him makes it clear that his younger friend doesn’t think the same and the he probably already pities him for being attached to the man without knowing anything besides his name, his favorite color and one of his hobbies.  
“Yeah, sure,” Baekhyun says and raises his eyebrows, “It is the same with my room. I couldn’t get inside last week because the lock was broken, not because you were having sex inside and locked it so that nobody interrupted.”

At that there is a thought coming to Minseok’s mind.

“What if he has a boyfriend or girlfriend?” Minseok asks meekly, finally flickering his eyes up to meet Baekhyun’s, “And that’s why he doesn’t answer.”

“Then he wouldn’t have given you his number to begin with,” Baekhyun says and shakes his head, “It wouldn’t make any sense.”

“So there really is something wrong with his phone,” Minseok decides and plops a piece of popcorn in his mouth, the sweet sugar melting on his tongue.

Baekhyun just observes him for a few moments without saying anything before he sighs and nods. “Probably. Have you ever tried calling him?”

“No,” Minseok answers with hunched eyebrows and a shake of his head, “Why would I?”

“To see if the number is actually real,” Baekhyun says and reaches for the table were both of their phones lay. His best friend’s doesn’t have a code so that everybody can take and play with it as one pleases so it isn’t long before he looks for the contact name that Minseok still hasn’t changed until then. He has thought about it a few times, of course, yet whenever he had typed ‘Jongdae’ into the open space, it has felt somehow wrong to do so. As long as he doesn’t know if the other man really wants to keep it as anonymous as possible, he will just let it be – it is not like he will forget who the man behind the number is anyway. Not when the male’s face refuses to leave his mind and his dreams for as long as he will not get to see it in real since it is post exams break at the moment.

Seemingly having found what he is looking for, Baekhyun smiles with his eyes still plastered on the screen of Minseok’s phone as he reads over the messages the older man has sent.

“Hyung, this is painfully awkward,” he states when he is finished, yet he still doesn’t give the man his phone back just then, “Perhaps that is why he didn’t answer.”

“Shut up, Baek,” Minseok mutters as he reaches over to get his belonging back in his own hand – and he would have probably got it if Baekhyun hadn’t let himself fall back in order to avoid his friend’s fingers.

“No, I am not finished yet,” he argues and places his legs on Minseok’s lap to keep him from standing up or taking his phone away (all while somehow not spilling the rest of the popcorn in the dangerously tilted bowl still standing in between them). Baekhyun tips on it a little before he holds it against his ear for some seconds until a frown is overshadowing the joy on his features.

“What is it?” Minseok asks and lays both hands on Baekhyun’s shins, mostly to keep himself occupied instead of anything else. The younger man just holds his phone out for him where a call is currently ongoing with the stranger’s contact opened up. Minseok doesn’t even need to place it close to his ear to hear what a monotonous woman’s voice says since he has heard the announcement more than often enough – she tells him in a very friendly way that the person you just called is currently unavailable and that you can leave a message after the beep if you want to.  
Before this can happen, though, Minseok ends the call, throws Baekhyun’s legs off his own thighs and places the phone back on the table.

“It didn’t even ring a single time,” the younger man says quietly as he sits back up properly, his gaze fully fixed on his best friend as if he isn’t sure how he will react. But Minseok just smiles and shrugs.

“I told you there is something wrong with his phone.”

“You know what?” Baekhyun leans over to switch the TV off, then he stands up, grasps the older man’s wrists firmly and pulls him up, too, “We are going out. You need to get him out of your head for just this evening and who knows, perhaps you will find somebody who takes your mind off of this guy because that man does you no good, do you hear me?” With that he slowly begins to walk backwards, guiding Minseok in the direction of his bedroom. “He maybe was a good fuck but that really is all. So I am going to put you in some tight pants, paint your face a little and then we will go for drinks and see what the night will bring.”

Minseok already opens his mouth to argue when he gets dragged through the hallway but his friend cuts him off before he can even say a single word.

“No, we will not discuss this, it is final. The only thing we can argue about is if you want to call Kyungsoo, too, and ask if he wants to come because I am pretty sure that tomorrow is his free day since he has worked through the weekend.”

It is really beneficial that summertime is on full force so that nobody needs a jacket even when it is in the middle of the night so that the temperature doesn’t bother any of the men when they stand in the waiting line for one of Seoul’s many clubs. Baekhyun has, in fact, put him in some black pants that outline every curve of his body as if they were painted on with two rips across his knees, his upper body is (not really) hidden by an also black, loose mesh tank top that flutters around his frame a bit yet reveals more of his skin than Minseok has ever wanted yet Baekhyun has insisted that he wears it since “You haven’t even worn it once and you have it since… when? Your freshman year of college?” and because his best friend is a self-appointed stylist who always makes sure that nobody looks normal whenever they go out together. They even had to stop by at Baekhyun’s apartment to pick up some of his own stuff since he claimed that Minseok’s pants wouldn’t fit him the right way ever since his thighs had returned – although the older man had called bullshit at that since his own upper legs weren’t exactly thin but he still didn’t argue and went with him in order to avoid having to discuss this matter with him more than absolutely necessary since they had almost jumped at each other’s throats when it came to Minseok’s makeup for that night.  
His eyes are now framed by a thin layer of dark eyeliner (Baekhyun has wanted more but the older man refused) and not-too-dramatic grey eyeshadow that give them a little smoky look while the younger male’s own eyes seem like he has spent hours perfecting them although it has really just taken him little over then minutes and he is clad in dark red leather pants and a white relatively tight dress shirt.

Kyungsoo has actually joined them and even if he is not as dressed up as his companions are, he still manages to draw a fair amount of attention on him ever since the top of his hair is colored in a rich wine red and the black sides are kept in an undercut. He was worried that somebody from his working place would say anything to it, yet not even his captain had batted an eye at it and just kept on treating him like he had done it before.

“I don’t like people,” he states when he looks around and catches a few strangers ogling him, throwing him flirty smiles and teasing winks when he gazes back at them for longer than a split second, “Why are we here again?”

“Minseok needs to find somebody to get that one guy out of his head,” Baekhyun explains as he tries to get a glimpse of how much longer they have to wait until they can go inside. The queue is not very short but the guards don’t seem to take much time looking at people’s IDs or sorting some of them out.

The oldest of the three sighs as he rolls his eyes and crosses his arms in front of his chest, “No, I do not. Baekhyun just thinks so because we were talking about ‘that one guy’ earlier.”

Sadly, that sounded better in his head but bitter and a little pouting when he said it out loud so that Baekhyun just nods at Kyungsoo when he pulls up his eyebrows in a disbelieving manner while saying, “See, I told you.”

“Right,” Kyungsoo mutters and lays one hand on Minseok’s shoulder when he comes a little closer, “And who is that one guy? And why have I never heard of him before?”

The older man lets his head drop back with a quiet groan at that and for a short moments he wants to shake his friend off before he lets him be because frankly, Minseok would do the same for or to him, too.

“Nobody,” he states, “Somebody I slept with one time little over a week ago.”

“And why do you need to get him out of your head?” Kyungsoo asks, clearly not knowing why this is a reason for his friend to go out. Minseok normally keeps to himself and that includes not spending much time dancing or drinking except for when he is sitting on his couch all by himself, watches TV and drinks beer but that is about as close as he gets to the term ‘partying’. So when now somebody comes by and gets Minseok to actually go to a club and dance the night away, it must have been pretty bad. Yet said male just shrugs when they move forwards with the queue that seems to get smaller.

“He just left me in the middle of the night but left his number yet every time I tried to contact him until now, his phone was shut off. Baekhyun thinks that he isn’t interested in me even if he has never said it out loud while I just guess that there is something wrong with his phone,” Minseok explains and plunges one hand in his pocket to fumble his ID and some money out of it in order to be allowed to enter the club one he realizes how close to the entrance they already are.  
The looks Baekhyun and Kyungsoo exchange don’t go unnoticed by him but he purposely ignores them since he knows that whatever he is going to say for his own defense will just fall on deaf ears so he lets it be completely. If they want to believe that he is hung up on the stranger already just because he still waits for messages that will never come, then so be it.

Living in a great city like Seoul has its perks – whenever you run out of something, you can fetch it from a near store that never closes, not even on Sunday or during the night. Whenever you need to go somewhere, you can take the subway and don’t need you own car or ride a bicycle if you are not a fan of that. Everything is near, everything is available and you are always able to find whatever you are looking for, be it food, a new hobby or new friends. Yet living there also has its cons – like too many people in a too filled club even though it is Monday and not even weekend. Minseok cannot help but think that the beginning of a new week is probably depressing enough for some of them that they have to party to lift their minds again and that is why there is a mass of dancing people on the floor and overly many persons sitting at the bars.

“People…” Kyungsoo hisses as he lets his eyes roam around the mass of people with an expression of mild disgust plastered on his features. It is enough to make Minseok grin a bit as he sneaks up by his side after putting away his stuff again while Baekhyun is already on his way to get them the first round of drinks.

“It was your choice to come here with us,” he reminds his younger friend as he looks around the people dancing. Some catch his attention immediately – like that one completely wasted girl who looks like she is seconds away from throwing up with her eyes totally unfocused and her limbs flying around her as if she has no control in them anymore, or this one guy who dances as if he has never done something else in his whole life, his body swaying and moving like fluid in well-trained waves without touching a single person in his space. Sadly, he is absolutely not Minseok’s type because he clearly knows who it is and he throws his friend by his side a pointed look at that.

“Or are you just here because of a certain partner of yours?” he asks and wiggles his eyebrows as he motions his chin in the direction of the dancing man. Kyungsoo’s own eyes widen a bit more when he spots who it is but he shakes his head the moment he does so with a sincere smile on his lips.

“I didn’t know he was here, he didn’t even say that he wanted to go out and party today, though in a way it is rather understandable since he probably really needed a drink after this weekend,” Kyungsoo shakes his head again, the fluffy red hair on top of his scalp bouncing a bit, “We all do, we haven’t found a single evidence of the murderer.”

Minseok casually throws one arm around his shoulders and softly drags him off in the direction of the bar where Baekhyun is occupying seats for them, the younger man following him without lacking behind too much as his friend talks to him in a soothing voice that is almost too quiet to be understood since there is a heavy bass and loud music blaring around them in a rhythm that is mirrored in their heartbeats.

“You are here to forget about work,” Minseok says, “so no thinking about the case, no worries but a good time tonight, alright?”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo agrees, however still a little bit reluctantly and as if he is not really convinced. Minseok knows how it feels like to be told to shut one’s mind off and let go off everything that is worrisome if one is not the type to just let it be, yet with a lot willpower and an every higher amount of alcohol, everything is possible in that matter and Minseok has to say that he really trusts Baekhyun when it comes to getting somebody sloshed – he himself has made the experience often enough: after exams, after breakups, when Minseok thought too much or when his best friend just thought that he needed to shut his own worries out of his head for one evening although it always ended completely wasted and with a hangover the next day. Somehow, though, it is always worth it to the roots because even if Minseok has the highest alcohol tolerance of them all and is the one who is the most responsible, he has always fun and doesn’t think about each and everything that could dull the mood. Perhaps Baekhyun can encounter the same goal with their younger friend.

It is indeed not even two hours later when Kyungsoo dances with Baekhyun while a big smile is grazing his now completely relaxed features, a big glass with some brightly colored liquid in one of his hands that is raised in the air as he jumps with the people around them in the same rhythm as the beat goes on.  
Minseok just watches from afar with his back pressed against one of the walls, amazed at how Baekhyun has managed something like this so quickly since it really is on the verge of a wonder whenever Kyungsoo doesn’t look like he wants to kill each and everybody around them, the fact that he actually dances, in public at that is not even to be mentioned. But he looks as if he really forgot about the homicide and everything that comes along with it when he laughs and jumps and moves his hips without stumbling although it seems like he is drunk already.  
Yet somehow Minseok cannot focus just on them since he feels like he is being watched. It is of course nothing strange in a public place like that and what he wears is not exactly repulsive enough to keep people off him (he still feels rather insecure because the pants are far too tight and his shirt is way too revealing) but it seems to be different than the ‘usual’ people throwing him those “I-really-want-to-fuck-you”-looks. Instead is feels more sneaky, more like somebody doesn’t want him to know that he is being watched – Minseok still realizes it in the way the back of his neck his tingling although his back is still pressed against the wall, it the way it makes the short hairs at the end of his scalp stand and causes a shortening reaction to flare up together with the reflex to just flee. He doesn’t, of course, and instead just lets his eyes rake over the mass of people around him before he spots somebody in the distance that makes his blood run cold.

The stranger is almost completely hidden by some other people, half of his face not visible from Minseok’s position yet what he sees is enough to make realization get the better of him.  
When Jongdae notices that the other man is staring right back at him, one corner of his lips twitch up in a smirk before he disappears in the ocean of strangers separating them and while Minseok is thrilled to wait until Jongdae once again finds him, his feet move on their own before he can even think about it because somehow, it feels more like he is going to lose the man another time and not like they will be united soon.  
Minseok realizes that it might be true when he looks around and cannot spot the man he doesn’t even know, he isn’t even sure what the man wears since he hasn’t seen his body from his position. It frustrates him beyond believe and he once again asks himself how one person he hasn’t even talked to properly (let alone is familiar with) can have such an impact on him that whenever he spots him in the crowd, he is the only person Minseok actually sees.

When somebody taps on his shoulder, he whirls around as if he has been burnt, yet the only person that is smiling up at him is Baekhyun watching him with cautious concern.  
“Are you okay, hyung?” he asks, his voice raised to be heard over the loud music and the still strong bass thrumming in their ears.

“He is here,” Minseok just answers, a little more rushed than he would have liked but he cannot actually bring himself to care since he is already searching the crowd with attentive eyes again, “I’ve seen him, he is around somewhere but-“

“Okay, did he see you, too?” Baekhyun asks and turns him around again, his own gaze now raking over the mass of strangers. He has never exchanged a word with his friend’s new obsession but he has watched them on too many occasions to not know how the man looks like.

Minseok nods in response and shakes Baekhyun’s hand off his shoulder. Jongdae surely hasn’t just disappeared, he can’t, not when he has smirked at him like he has done it when they talked to each other for the first time. If he really has gone by then, Minseok can at least be sure that the other man didn’t intent to meet him another time, let alone talk to him over the phone. Who knows if he even gave the older male his very own cellphone number.  
But Minseok couldn’t live knowing that he has maybe fucked up in some kind of way that has now the consequence that this handsome man will never talk to him again, let alone do something more with him again. The possibility alone is enough to make his knees buckle, so he quickly shakes his head to gather his thoughts again (not believing that a stranger is enough to make him react like that) and turns his head in Baekhyun’s direction.

“I will… go and look for him or something.”

“Alright,” his friend draws his eyebrows together at the tone he has made use of and lays a securing hand on the small space between his shoulder blades, “Are you going to be okay?”

Minseok shrugs and throws him a smile that should probably reassure him, yet it only looks a little pained – it makes Baekhyun’s worry increase, if anything. Yet before he can say anything else, the older man disappears in the mass of dancing people and leaves his friend to stand alone with his hand patting the air. With a deep sigh, he lets it sink and decides to look for Kyungsoo first – Minseok is old and sober enough to know what he is doing even without a babysitter.

Despite his wide opened eyes and his attention fixed on nothing else but the man, Minseok can’t seem to find the object of his desire. He brushes other people off more than just a few times when he pushes past them, his head turning in every direction to find the male as he walks through the tiny spaces of the persons ogling and openly flirting with him – he ignores all of them since he is a man on a mission that’s focus will not break away from his goal.  
Yet after some minutes of looking and searching, his shoulders sack when he realizes that Jongdae is probably fleeing from him and that he probably doesn’t want to be found by him, so he stops to walk after a few other, not victorious moments of searching and gives up with a deep, regretful sigh as he hangs his head. Minseok should probably just accept the fact that the other man used him as an easy target without strings attached and that he has no intention of ever talking to him again.  
With heavy shoulders and an even heavier heart, he pushes through the dancing, happy people and walks off in the direction of the bathrooms where he will hopefully be on his own for a few moments.

There really is nobody there so that he can breathe for a few seconds with his hands propped up on the sinks and with his eyes closed, without anybody asking if he is alright or if he feels like throwing up. The walls around him are painted in a dull grey, some messages in colorful permanent marker written all over them, names and numbers and doodles that don’t make sense at all. Yet none of it catches Minseok’s attention as he lets his eyes closed even when the door opens and another human beings sets foot inside.  
His head does snap upwards, though, when somebody cups his hips from behind and the same person lets his nose brush against the side of his neck tenderly. Minseok already wants to kick out and scream at the stranger to fuck off since he is really not in the mood to get touched at the moment – yet all words stay locked in his throat when he catches who exactly is touching him when he catches a glimpse of curled up lips and intense eyes that stare into his through the mirror.

“I was looking for you,” Minseok breaths and straightens his spine so that they are close in height, if not on one level. His back is pressed flush against Jongdae’s front, he can feel the other man’s chest rise and fall with every breath he takes and that alone is enough to make him all lightheaded when he realizes that this is really happening, that the man is with him again since the week that they haven’t seen each other feels like so much longer – at least to Minseok and he guesses that with the possessive grip the younger male keeps on his middle, he somewhat perceived it the same way.

“I found you,” Jongdae answers, his voice low and merely above a whisper that brushes against Minseok’s neck and tickles his sensible skin but the older man understands him perfectly since every of his senses is once again focused on the stranger whose thumbs are hooking under the waistband of his pants at the moment, pulling their hips a little closer together. “I always will.”

“Hopefully,” Minseok heaves out, mind already in overrun when the other man lays his chin on his shoulder from behind, his head tilted a bit so that his nose is brushing against the side of the male’s neck to breathe in the scent of his cologne.

“I promise,” Jongdae’s voice is nothing more than a low growl at this point, directly delivered in Minseok’s ear due to their closeness and the position they find themselves trapped in, completely unable to pull or push the other away – not that either of them would want to do so in this moment.

“Be it in university, on the campus in general or at parties. I am drawn to you, even when you don’t look like you are hotter than the sun itself.”

To emphasis his point, he lets one of his hands sneak under Minseok’s shirt, the fabric pooling around his wrist as his cold fingertips trail over the man’s naked skin. It makes him shudder violently in Jongdae’s hold, what causes the smirk to reappear on his lips when he digs them in the dips of Minseok’s muscled stomach softly to get another reaction out of him.  
It is delivered when Minseok turns around quickly, his palms coming to rest on the other man’s upper arms as he deeply stares into the younger man’s eyes, his lips slightly opened since he wants to say something else yet Jongdae doesn’t really give him a chance to do so when he leans forwards, stopping when a mere inch is separating their faces to grant Minseok the opportunity to pull away. It doesn’t even occur to the older man that he could pull back so he leans forwards and connects their lips again, a suppressed sigh leaving his still slightly opened mouth when Jongdae immediately returns the kiss when he wraps his arms around the older male’s waist completely.  
Minseok’s fingers soon tangle in his hair as he pulls him closer just a little, them being pressed together from their noses gently bumping against another over their quickly heaving chests to their thighs and knees.

The pace isn’t set as high and desperate as it has been the first time, they don’t rush since the both of them have already satisfied their craving for another once already and since they both know that they will not do anything in a public bathroom where everybody could walk in on them any second. That ‘anything’ doesn’t include making out, though, that is why Minseok soon finds himself seated on the open space in between two of the sinks with Jongdae standing in between his spread legs as he lets himself be devoured happily, soft sighs and guarded, quiet moans slipping past both of their connected mouths from time to time still without being interrupted once.  
If they weren’t in public, Minseok would have probably already open the man’s dress shirt to finally feel his soft skin under his own curious fingertips again but so he can just settle for sliding them over his clothed front and his unblemished neck and even if it is not perfect, it is enough for them because soon enough the door is eventually opened and somebody’s surprised gasp breaks them apart.

A man neither of them know is standing in the doorframe, looking like he has seen a ghost and with red cheeks at catching them red-handed. Although they have never met before, Minseok curses the stranger silently in his head as he jumps from the counter and in front of Jongdae’s feet. Said male has just whipped his head in the direction of the opened door for a short moment before he is looking at Minseok’s again with his gaze dripping with a certain kind of heat that makes the other man’s core feel a little strange.

“Sorry,” the stranger mutters and skips over to the cabins where he disappears without sparing them another glance, yet the damage is already done so Minseok just sighs as he shakes his head rapidly to collect his thoughts since his whole brains seems to be scrambled.

“Let’s go,” he finally says when he is able to look up again, catching the male’s gaze still resting on his face. Nobody has ever managed to make him feel this insecure before by just looking at him, Minseok notes as he shuffles a bit on his feet while he tries to keep up with the eye contact.  
Jongdae just nods in response, his gaze wandering down to his lips and then up again, succeeding in sending a bolt of fire surging through the older man’s cheeks.

“If you keep looking at me like that I maybe will drag you into one of the cabins and have my way with you,” Minseok warns him in a mumble, his hands already twitching by his side since he somehow can’t seem to keep them off the man in front of him. He has never been one for doing intimate stuff in public bathrooms because he is normally too disgusted to even set a foot inside yet he suspects that he would probably be okay with having sex with him even in front of a lot of people – they could go at it in the middle of the dancefloor for all he cared.  
The corners of Jongdae’s mouth twitch upwards at that and he tilts his head to one side a bit as he reaches for the male’s hips again.

“I don’t see a problem with that,” he whispers at that and pulls their fronts close together, the hint of his arousal pressing against the front of the older male’s own far too tight pants. It makes Minseok’s breath hitch in his throat as he blinks repeatedly while swallowing hard.

“I do,” he answers in the same register, “Though my apartment is not very far from here.”

Jongdae nods quickly in response, answering the underlying question before he leans down to press a kiss to the man’s already slightly swollen lips.  
“Lead the way then,” he mutters and lets him go.

Before they can get out of the club, though, Minseok remembers something.

“I have to find my friend,” he says to the man and looks around the crowd to hopefully spot him soon, “We came here together, he will panic if I just go without telling him.”

Jongdae’s eyes flicker back and forth between Minseok’s as he nods in the direction of the exit.  
“I will wait for you outside,” he answers and leaves when the older man agrees.

Sadly, it does take Minseok longer than just a few seconds to find his best friend in the mass of people since they are not dancing but sitting at one of the bars, some empty shot glasses standing in front of them and next to them. By the amount, Minseok can only hope that not all of them are theirs.

“Hyung!” Kyungsoo exclaims happily when he spots him, reaching out with both hands to pull him into a hug. He has always been one to be exceedingly cuddly whenever a high amount of alcohol was involved. Minseok lets himself be crushed for a few moments before he pushes him off and looks at Baekhyun with an apologetic smile.

“You found him,” his friend slurs but the grin on his lips gives away that he is not as mad at him as his voice suggests, the friendly expression just grows when Minseok nods.

“We are… well we…” he begins but Baekhyun cuts him off with a huff and a hand-motion as if he tries to brush away a fly.

“I know,” he says and shakes his head, “Use protection, I will just go to my own dorm. Have fun!”

Minseok jogs off without even properly thanking him but he suggests that he has kept Jongdae waiting for long enough so that he almost runs to the exit in order to be with him as quickly as possible. The second he steps outside, he feels bad, though, since it has begun to rain pretty heavily. Thick droplets fall from the sky and splash onto the ground and Minseok finds himself dripping wet in a matter of seconds. In this moment he is glad that he has left his phone at home because it would probably break under the water. At that he reminds himself of talking to Jongdae about why he has given him his number if he never answers anyway, yet when he looks around in order to spot the younger man, he has to assert that he is completely alone.

“Jongdae?” he calls out and looks around, searching for a roof around where the younger man could hide from the rain but he doesn’t find anything at first. Except for some cars driving around and people with umbrellas hurrying down the sidewalks, he is completely alone.

“No, no, no,” he mumbles to himself, his eyebrows hunched together as he frantically turns to find him. “Don’t be gone,” Minseok mutters pleadingly, clutching onto his own hands in front of his chest before he calls the man’s name another time – without a response. The raindrops around him just continue to fall and even if it really isn’t cold, a shiver rakes down his spine and goosebumps flare up on his skin when he realizes that he has missed his chance by taking too much time. He wants to go inside and see if the man is still there, if he just sought for refugee inside but he knows that he would have spotted the other man since nobody was in the small room before the exit.

Minseok can hear his own pulse in his ears and the bass from inside even out there but he doesn’t care about that since nothing of that feels important at that moment. He has made him wait for too long, he has maybe missed his last chance of getting to know the mysterious male by his own fault.  
He feels like he is seconds away from dropping to the floor in despair when he spots a movement in the corner of his eye, making his head snap around to be greeted with the sight of an utterly soaked Jongdae walking towards him. His white shirt is transparent by then, clinging onto his upper body like a second skin, his pants look just as tightly plastered onto his body and Minseok knows that he is probably drooling and that he doesn’t look any better off. Yet all he can think about is the fact that he hasn’t fucked up, that the man is still around and gazing at him as if he wants to eat him.

“I was looking for a shelter,” he explains in a relatively loud voice to outcast the rain still falling around them, “I am sorry if you thought that I was gone.”

“It is fine,” Minseok breaths when he is finished with devouring the younger man with his eyes, finding himself in his arms soon again while Jongdae presses their lips together in a desperate urgency, forcing nothing short than an unrestricted moan from Minseok’s mouth as he clutches onto the male’s should to keep himself steady. They are in the middle of the sidewalk, wet and soaked from the rain that is still pouring down on them and these are just some of the reason why they should probably stop making out but Minseok is too far gone to care by then so that it takes him some moments – close to minutes – before he pulls away and drags the man off in the direction of his own apartment, promising himself that this time, he would be smarter.


	5. Once Again

Minseok wonders how he could ever feel cold. People tend to be unable to imagine heat when one is freezing and the other way around yet Minseok really doesn’t know what coldness could perhaps feel like because every inch of his skin, every vein and every bone seems to be on fire.  
There are sparks sizzling through him and daze is clouding his mind, smoke filling his lungs and making it hard for him to breathe. Every of his muscles is tense, his senses are hyperaware of everything happening around him and to him – he feels the moistness of his own skin and the hot breath fanning against the side of his neck, only interrupted by gentle lips molding against it from time to time. His nose is filled with the other man’s scent, he can still taste him in his mouth and on his tongue from their previous making out session on the open street and he hears his own ragged breaths and the man panting into his ear. There are hands curving around his hips, over his lower back and trailing in the back pockets of his jeans where they linger for some moments. 

Minseok keeps his eyes closed tightly, fearing that if he lets them snap open and gazes up, his willpower to hold himself back will crumble and they are still in the elevator and not yet in his apartment so the situation doesn’t exactly allow him to screw logical thinking just yet.  
Time can’t seem to pass by quick enough though. They have been close to running all the way from the club, hurrying through the streets and then the lobby but they couldn’t use the staircase since it is just to be used in the case of fire so that they had to wait for and inside the elevator until the metal box carried them to the right floor. 

Minseok inwardly thanks himself for always keeping his place clean and tidy even when he doesn’t expect visitors so that he won’t have to excuse himself for any mess or for crumpled sheets when they finally arrive at the story where his apartment is found. His door is one of the closest and he relatively quickly finds his key in his pocket when the younger man lets go off him for long enough to unlock it.  
In the same moment the doors snaps shut behind them again, willpower is not a word either of them know anymore. They clutch onto each other in the same instant immediately when they are in the safety of Minseok’s home. Said guy finds himself pressed up against the wall with strong arms caging his head and another body holding him against the surface firmly, knocking all available air out of his lungs for some moments when Jongdae engages him in a kiss again – fiercely, all-consuming and without a doubt filled with burning lust. 

Minseok lets the other guy take what he seems to want with an approving groan, his arms wrapping around his waist to keep him close. His body heat is radiating through the soaking wet shirt that is glued to his torso. Minseok’s hands slip down his back to cup the man’s butt in order to pull their hips together tightly and in that making a bolt of arousal pulse through their bodies.  
Jongdae pulls back for a short moment, his chest heaving heavily as he stares at the man between his arms. 

“Bedroom?” he asks, his panting almost making the words too slurred to be understood but Minseok would have known what he desires even if he hadn’t even said a word since it is written all over the man’s beautiful features. Minseok quickly nods in response, his eyelids fluttering when he tries to collect the thoughts that run through his melted mind. When he has himself together somewhat, he reaches for the man’s hand in order to guide him to his room yet it is Jongdae who interlaces their fingers and squeezes them slightly in his hold. It causes a soft blush to appear on Minseok’s cheeks but he refuses to look back since he knows that if he does they either won’t reach their destination or he will die from embarrassment so he keeps his head held high when he leads them through the hallway.  
It works up to the point where Minseok reaches out for the handle with his free hand because when the younger man pressed him against the door again, his lips finding the sensitive skin right under his ear where he kisses, sucks and nibbles for a few moments - and Minseok finds himself unable to breathe. 

“You have a thing for pushing me against hard surfaces, don’t you?” he asks once oxygen is filling his lungs again but he still tilts his head to the other side to grant the other male some more space.

Jongdae chuckles lowly, the sound almost enough to make Minseok’s knees buckle but he manages to keep himself upright because he is not intending to show the man that he has such a great effect on him, not yet at least, not when he is still coherent enough to think at least a little bit. 

“I do,” the man admits while he is still smirking against the side of his neck, “Sadly, I’m not strong enough to actually fuck you against the wall so this will have to do.” 

Minseok stiffens in his hold, a shiver raking down his spine at these words and the picture that spreads in front of his closed eyes at them, the fantasy enough to make him shudder in want.

“Y-you can’t just say stuff like that,” he forces out and quickly, finally opens the door to let the man he desires in his bedroom where hopefully the talking would come to an end soon because Minseok has a serious problem growing that he desperately needs to take care off before they can discuss things like those.  
Jongdae is quick to usher him inside, the door falling shut behind them as he pushes the man back until the back of his knees hit the bed.

“Why not?” he asks, that stupidly sexy smirk still plastered on his face as he lets his gaze rake down the man’s body, “I don’t think I look muscular enough to give you the impression that I could do so and it is not exactly a secret that I really want to screw you.” 

Instead of answering, Minseok grips the collar of his shirt and pulls the man in, their lips meeting as if they have been doing this for years and not just for the second time since they move together in a well-practiced synchronization that only breaks for a short moment when the older man falls back onto the neatly folded sheets.  
He doesn’t care about the fact that he will have to change them later that day or tomorrow or that they are still dripping wet, he doesn’t care about the fact that he doesn’t know the man that is now hovering over him again or that this guy is probably just using him for his body because when Jongdae is coming down to kiss him, he grinds their hips together with a good amount of force that makes a moan slip out of Minseok’s mouth right before it is covered once again. 

What is time again? Minseok can’t seem to remember anything – not his own name, not where he is, not how he has gotten himself into this situation. What he does know is that he should probably feel insecure because Jongdae can do things with his tongue that make the older man question how much practice he must have at this point and that he himself must probably really suck compared to him but that he still doesn’t care about that because his blood is definitely not in his head. Instead it all has flown further down south since the other male’s pelvis rhythmically rolls against his and Jongdae is breathing heavily as if he has a hard time catching his breath, too, and everything about this situation turns Minseok on so much to the point where he feels like he will pass out soon. 

He cannot remember when he has started to open Jongdae’s shirt since no part of his body is listening to him any longer which would probably freak him out severely if his head wasn’t just screaming Just fucking get to it! because the other man has stopped to move his hips to make it easier on him (what is really helpful yet somewhat not because this tests his patience and somehow Minseok is running really short on that at the moment). 

“You are trembling,” Jongdae says when he leans back on his heels in order to shimmy his shirt off his upper body, his body weight pressing the older man’s thighs into the mattress at that. Snorting – because it really is obvious that he is shaking and the reason to why he is doing so is too – Minseok sits up, too, because he cannot take off his own clothes when he is lying. 

“It is called ‘want’,” he retorts and stretches both arms over his head when the younger man takes ahold of the seam of his shirt and pulls it up, “I want you, that’s why I’m trembling.”

“You have me,” Jongdae growls and leans in again, his fingers coming down to unbutton his own pants with hurried movements. They are merely even kissing anymore, instead they just breathe the other’s air, play with each other’s tongue and just enjoy being this close yet Minseok feels his dick throb in his pants, it poking uncomfortably against his own jeans that will soon have to go if he wants to stay alive. It doesn’t feel like the younger man wants to grant him this pleasure soon, though, since even if he has opened up the row of three buttons, he just cups Minseok through the fabric and palms the obvious bulge with determined force that somehow still isn’t too rough, it’s just the right amount of pressure that the older man keens quietly in satisfaction as his head falls back while he squeezes his eyes together tightly. It’s all too much but on the other hand not nearly enough and Minseok wants to rip his own hair out because he is so torn between holding still and letting the younger man play with him or pushing him backwards to finally end what they had started.  
His mouth makes its own decision before he can think about it too much (not that his scrambled thoughts leave much room for actual thinking). 

“Y-you need to stop,” he pants, almost wincing at how whined these words sound, as if he doesn’t mean them.

But Jongdae once again turns out as somebody who’s not willing to do things without consent so he quickly stops the movement of his hand as he looks up at the other man in slight worry. 

“You have to tell me if you don’t want anything of what we are doing.”

Minseok’s chest is still heaving as he tries to catch his breath while his hips jerk upwards against Jongdae’s palm since all he actually wants is any kind of stimulation. They haven’t even done much but he already feels like he is well on his way to bliss. 

“It’s not that,” he muttered as he shakes his head a single time, “I just don’t want to paint the inside of my pants.”

At that this stupid (and way too hot) smirk slides in place again while Jongdae pressed his hand a bit against Minseok’s lap what earns him a choked gasp from the older man. 

“I don’t see the problem,” he grumbles when he reaches his other hand out to push Minseok back against the mattress with little force, “You have to wash them anyway.”

“Let’s just say that would really rather come with you pounding into me than like this.”

His right hand smooths over Jongdae’s chest, down to his toned stomach slowly, his eyes following the movement before they rake up the man’s body again achingly slow while he speaks. The response he gets is nothing if not satisfying when the younger male all but rips his pants off Minseok’s legs when he slides down them a little until he can sit comfortably in between them. From this position it is easier to make him lose his mind, Jongdae decides as he returns the heated gaze that is thrown at him with the same determination, now not even a single hint of amusement written over his face.  
It is a game for both of them – the challenge who the first one to give in will be, who the more impatient one is and most likely who will out longer while the other comes undone. 

And as much as Minseok is determined to win, he knows that he won’t since there are gentle fingertips sliding up under the seam of his shorts instead of taking them off firstly – the first hint which shows that Jongdae has probably way more patience than the older man himself. Especially when he doesn’t even intend to take them off but he instead skids down his body even more to pull his socks off his feet before he comes back up again. 

“What about something else?” Jongdae suggests when he is seated in the male’s lap again, his butt firmly resting directly on the older man’s crotch as he smirks down at him with cocked eyebrows. 

“What exactly do you have in mind?” Minseok asks, too quietly for his own liking, as his own hands come to rest on the man’s thighs while he toys with the fabric of his shorts a little – and tugs on it slightly to get it down a bit (not that it does). 

“How about I make you fall apart for a few times first before we get to the fucking?” 

Minseok’s breath hitches in his throat and not only because of the man’s hips that have slowly begun to roll against his. 

“Y-you don’t have to, to… I mean, there is no need to-“

“Minseok,” he mumbles, saying his name in a soothing rumble for the first time that evening, probably the first real time without moaning it, what somehow surprises Minseok since he really has feared that Jongdae had actually forgotten about it and was too shy or proud to ask for it again a second time. The way he speaks it out makes the hair on Minseok’s neck stand as a shiver rakes down his spine – he really is too sensitive when it comes to this guy. 

“It is called ‘want’,” he quotes him as he cocks his head to one side a bit, all while still rolling his hips teasingly slow, “I want you, that’s why I want to do it. Not because I feel like I have to nor because I think you could need it. You are just incredibly sexy and way too handsome when you come undone and I want to see it some more times than just one, so will you allow me to please you a little more than just once or do you not want it?”

Minseok has done some things that he is not exactly proud of – sleeping with a stranger and becoming attached to him is one of them, just like texting him too often even though he already knew that there wouldn’t be an answer – but he knows that he will never regret this night. Not when Jongdae looks down at him as if he has to hold himself back from jumping him, when his fingertips dig into Minseok’s chest to keep them from shaking in impatience and want, when he is so hard that Minseok can feel it with every movement of his hips. He wants him, too, so awfully much that it is almost painful but the man is too beautiful, too hot and too caring although they don’t know each other that he just wants to never sleep again if that means that he can spend his nights nestled between his sheets and said male who is still seated in his lap.

Logical thinking is pointless sometimes. 

“Make me see stars,” Minseok whispers. 

It is all that it takes for Jongdae to skid back one more time in order to pull the man’s shorts off his body before he stands up from the mattress to shimmy his own, still dripping wet, pants off his legs and only then he reclaims his position on the older male’s body. His knees come to rest on either side of Minseok’s hips while he places his palms next to the man’s head and leans down to connect their lips. 

What starts out as slow and careful with nothing but lips pressed against another soon morphs into something else – something sensual, deep but still intimate to the point where it feels like they have done this for a lot of times already although in that it still has the exciting thrill of something new and unknown. It surely does drive Minseok insane when his hands begin to wander over the smooth expanse of the man’s back without him essentially noticing it until the younger man shivers under his touch when his fingertips tickle the male’s side. He feels solid due to his firm build, his skin is soft and mostly unblemished except for some raised little marks that are found on everyone’s body – stories written by life itself and kept alive by a person oneself.  
There are dips of his muscles that need to be explored since Minseok doesn’t feel like he had done it enough the last time, like the v-line that leads from the sides of his stomach to his groin like some sort of arrow that shows the way for the older man’s fingers but he doesn’t want to get this far yet – at first he has to show his strong back, the firm shoulders, that lovely neck, his toned chest and carved stomach some attention and appreciation. 

Jongdae doesn’t let him get this far when he pulls back only to continue his way down Minseok’s body with teasing, feathery light kisses, soft sucks and small licks against his skin. And of course Minseok lets him do all of him, lets Jongdae take what he seems to want while his own hands are fisting the sheets next to his frame tightly to keep himself in place somewhat because as much as he wants to sleep with the man or guide his head or fingers down to his groin, he knows better than to force Jongdae to do something quicker than he would want it. In the end both of them will probably appreciate it more if they linger over the sweeter and slower kind of pleasure that doesn’t necessarily involves actual sex or filthy touches but instead consists of tender fingertips and gentle kisses everywhere, of lingering over sensitive spots and building the increasing tension until it becomes impossible to hold oneself back.  
And Jongdae seems to know how to push all of the older man’s buttons since he is soon shivering in anticipation, gripping onto the light blue fabric even tighter to keep his hands occupied from tangling in the younger male’s hair. 

“Do I have to be careful?” Jongdae asks, his lips dangerously low and close to the skin right under his navel. His hot breath fans against the sensible part if his body and makes Minseok slightly dizzy keeping him from looking down since he is sure that the sight of the younger man lying between his spread legs that would unavoidably greet him, would undo him completely. 

“I’m clean,” he answers a little breathless, “If that is what you were asking.”

“Good,” Jongdae purrs right before he actually does go down on the older man. 

It would be a lie to say that Minseok hasn’t seen it coming but even if he somewhat expected it, he still gasps in shock when there is a moist heat closing around the tip of his arousal. One of the man’s hand is wrapped around his shaft while the other keeps a firm grip on his pelvis to keep him from thrusting upwards and into the mouth that moves in a skilled precision up and down his erection for a few times before Jongdae sucks on the tip while he swirls his tongue around the head and licks the sensitive slit on the underside. The man underneath him has trouble keeping still while he moans his pleasure into the nightly air as one of his hands tangles in Jongdae’s hair instead of the bedsheets but the male doesn’t seem to mind when he groans in approval before he bobs his head again while digging his own fingertips in Minseok’s skin. 

When the older man lets his eyelids flutter open to look down at the sight between his legs, he immediately regrets it when he notices that Jongdae keeps gazing up at him from time to time with eyes that drip with so much heat and hunger that it makes Minseok choke on air when he lets his head fall back against the pillow with his own eyes squeezing close. Jongdae has the audacity to chuckle at his reaction as he pulls away enough to have nothing in his mouth anymore but the hand that had been laying innocently around the base of the man’s arousal begins to move instead. His grip is firm, determined as he scrambles up the man’s body again to press his lips into every inch of soft skin, only stopping to mumble out some quiet words. 

“You either haven’t slept with anybody else or nobody has dared to mark you,” he asserts when he lingers over the spot where he had sucked a bruise the last time, the little dip between his leg and his hip now completely unblemished again. 

It takes Minseok a whole lot of his willpower to form coherent words into sentences that actually make sense, not to mention that he has bitten down on his own bottom lip to keep his sounds in check and has to let go off it then. 

“I haven’t done anything with… with somebody else,” he finally manages to rasp out, only to be followed by a rather loud moan when Jongdae does something with his fingers on the sensitive tip that has Minseok shuddering when heat is slowly pooling in his lower stomach, the familiar tickling sensation growing more the longer he keeps up with the motion. He doesn’t even have to open his eyes to know that the man is smirking at him, it is clear in his tone when he speaks up again. 

“That is good to know, too,” Jongdae mutters right before he leans down to reclaim the same spot he had that night not too long ago, sucking his undeserved ownership into the man’s skin again while his hand slowly ups its pace and tightens his grip a little. 

“I won’t last,” Minseok manages to squeak out, now both of his hands gripping the sheets again to not hurt the handsome male that brings him into this state of sweet not-knowing-what-to-do-with-oneself. 

Jongdae pulls off his skin with a pop and comes into Minseok’s view with that smirk in place again. The older man has troubles to keep up the eye contact, especially since it just makes the sensation that threatens to break free worse and worse until it becomes too much and he arches his back off the bed slightly with a quiet cry falling from his lips when the younger male slows down his movements of his fingers while the other hand catches his spent before it can hit Minseok in the face or spill all over the until then quite clean sheets.

Only when he lets out an overstimulated whine, Jongdae pulls back completely to grant him the space of catching his breath while he looks around the room, probably to find something to wipe his hand off. 

“There are wipes and tissues in the nightstand,” Minseok huffs out as he gazes at the man with still half-lidded eyes and his chest heaving while he slowly becomes aware of the world again once he actually manages to come down from the aftermath of his high. 

Jongdae leans over him – Minseok totally doesn’t check him out as he does so because the younger male is certainly and definitely not way too hot in this position with the way the muscles move under his skin and his erection so clearly visible through his thin boxers where an already damp spot is forming – and opens the drawer where he pulls out some wipes, then a package of a condom and a bottle of lube with his unspoiled hand before he cleans himself and Minseok’s stomach where some of his cum has managed to slide down his skin. The slight roughness on his stomach is a stark contrast to the smooth, warm fingertips that were there before but Minseok still appreciates it when his body is cleared from any fluids which shouldn’t be there. His muscles involuntary twitch under the touch and the gentle rubbing over his skin, making Jongdae smile coyly as he sits by his side. 

Once they are both clean and the younger man has thrown the dirtied wipes in the trashcan under the desk that is seated at the other end of the room across the bed, Minseok comes to sit on his knees and cradles Jongdae’s face in both if his hands to pull him into a fierce kiss that seems to do a lot more the him than to Minseok since the younger man lets out a moan the second their lips connect. It’s a sound so hungry and lewd that Minseok feels his blood rushing down south again but he refuses to be distracted by something like this when he manhandles Jongdae carefully until the male lies under him, determined to take care of him at least one time to before they get to the actual fun. 

“Let me touch you,” Minseok whispers when he pulls back for a short moment with his eyes still closed since they are merely an inch apart, the tips of their noses brushing together lightly whenever one of them breathes. 

Jongdae nods quickly while his one of his hands comes to tangle in the older man’s hair, the other rests on his nape to pull him in again when Minseok’s own fingertips trail down the male’s nude stomach until they reach the seam of his shorts. Not only is it noticeable in the way the muscles of his stomach tighten under his palm but also his hitching breath and the firmer grip on the strands of his hair that show Minseok how much the younger man anticipates what would definitely follow, just like the quiet moan when the older male goes lower to rub his hand over the bulge slowly, teasingly but with just enough pressure to coax increasingly loud and desperate sounds out of Jongdae’s opened much which becomes softer against his own until they are not kissing anymore. 

When Jongdae bucks his pelvis up to get some more friction, Minseok smiles slightly before he takes his hand away to pull the shorts off of his hips and down his legs until they are over his feet before he climbs up his body again to finally wrap his right hand around the man’s erection.  
While he enjoys to rather close his eyes in order to feel more of what is happening, Jongdae keeps his gaze fixed on Minseok’s face even though it seems to be hard for him. His eyelids flutter a little whenever a moan slips past his lips, when his hips move against the other man’s hand to get himself closer to the edge, at least until Minseok’s free hand comes to rest on the man’s lover stomach to keep him from thrusting upwards. As much as he enjoys to give in to fast and quick sometimes, Jongdae is different – he has been at their first time already but it was over way too soon so Minseok wants to make up for it, he wants to drag it out for as long as he can and bring the younger man as much pleasure as possible until they can’t even move anymore. 

So when Jongdae shudders a little under him while he keeps his eyes fixed on the older male’s lips, Minseok already knows what he is going to say. 

“Kiss me,” he breathes, “Please.”

Although Minseok knows that they won’t be connected for long, he still slips down his body sideways to lay next to him in order to freely move his hand while he leans over to fulfill the beautiful male’s wish when Jongdae turns his head with his chin raised slightly. His shuddered huffs when he exhales flare against the skin around Minseok’s own nose as he pressed their mouths together while his hand still moves up and down the man’s shaft in what he hopes is a fitting pace and firmness but judging by the fingers that are tangling in his hair tightly, it seems to be what the man likes so that he keeps it up this way for some time in which he devours Jongdae as well as possible. 

His nose is filled with the man’s scent, the soft moans and quiet whimpers muffled by his lips ring through his ears while Jongdae’s hands are traveling over his nude body – one still tugging on his hair while the other grabs onto his biceps, trails over his shoulder and chest down to his stomach, cups his hip and presses against his lower back – and his tongue sweeps against Minseok’s own. And just because they are so focused on each other, Minseok realizes it when the younger male tenses up against him while his hips jerk forwards almost unnoticeably so that Jongdae doesn’t even have to tell him that he is close. So Minseok moves his hand more towards the sensitive head of Jongdae’s dick and digs his thumb into the slit on the underside, rubbing it a bit while he moves his lips from the male’s mouth, over his jaw and down his neck to the dip of collarbone where he lingers for a few moments while he nibbles and sucks on the sensible skin to return the hickey that blooms on his own hip.  
Jongdae groans his approval before he writhes when pleasure washes over him for one last, long time as he keens out Minseok’s name while his release hits him. 

For a few moments after Minseok has now cleaned up, they just lie by each other’s side – Minseok with his gaze fixed on the younger male’s face while said guy keeps his eyes closed as he catches his breath again – before Jongdae rolls around to pin Minseok against the mattress another time. 

He smirks when he realizes a small detail that presses against his lower stomach. “So making me fall apart turns you on?”

Minseok hisses out a quiet curse when the man bucks against him so that their middles are resting together more firmly, his arousal hard and hot between their connected bodies. 

“What gives you the impression?” 

His voice is dripping with sarcasm which is soon erased completely when the younger man lets out a soft chuckle before he releases him as he grabs for the bottle of lube. 

“Still up for the real fun?” Jongdae asks as he examines the item laying on his open palm before he flickers his eyes over to Minseok again, “Or are you too exhausted for something like this? You did look pretty tired the last time.”

“You were the one who suggested that we should sleep and talk later,” Minseok reminds him with raised eyebrows. 

Some time later, when all the preparation is done and they are connected so deeply again, Minseok has his fingernails of one hand buried in the flesh of Jongdae’s hips as the man thrusts into him again and again with his hips never stilling for even a second, the other grips the underside of the headboard so tightly that his knuckles are colored white. The younger male has his eyes fixed on Minseok’s face the whole time as if he is trying to memorize every of his features while he pounds into him with hard, deep movements of his eager pelvis, pushing both of them to the edge and although it’s still to far away to reach for it, Minseok feels as if he is already falling since his whole body is tingling in pleasure when his prostate is caressed with every thrust, his lips are ajar around moans and breathless gasps and his eyes are squeezed shut because he just can’t keep them open no matter how hard he tries.

Jongdae’s groans are filling his ears, laced with wheezed versions of his name here and there when Minseok rolls his own hips upwards as good as possible from his position to meet the man halfway when he withdraws. And Minseok can’t get enough oxygen because everything around him is too hot, his senses are too full of the male who brings him this state of pure ecstasy and he knows that he won’t last when Jongdae gets ahold of his wrist to guide it from his own hip to Minseok’s arousal that had been trapped between their colliding bodies completely neglected until then. Understanding what he is supposed to do, the older man wraps his hand around his erection and strokes himself with stuttering movements at first before he smooths it out into the same rhythm Jongdae’s hips come in contact with his butt, his lower back arching slightly off the mattress when the pulsing tingle becomes a bolt of pleasure shooting through his veins. Once again his release comes earlier than he wants it to but Jongdae is folding over him as he hits his own high, sobbing Minseok’s name while he empties himself in the condom what sends the older man over his peak not even a second later because not only is Jongdae way too hot but seeing him actually orgasm over him and because of him is just too much to take for Minseok so he cries out when he convulses while he spills his own load between both of their stomachs and chests. 

The weight on top of him makes it harder for him to breathe but it is strangely comfortable so he loosely drapes the arm that had been stretched out over his head until then down to rest on Jongdae’s back and enlaces his own fingers with the other one right over the man’s spine while the Jongdae still gasps into the curve of his neck to come down from the aftershocks of his high. Minseok smiles slightly to himself when he reminisces the whole evening, starting out from drinking over to panicking twice because he had thought that he had lost the younger man and finally ending at everything they had done in the past hour (hours? He doesn’t know how much time must have passed by…). Lying like this was something he could probably get used to, the amount of exhaust he feels in himself is enough to almost let him drift off although he is sticky and gross and will probably be for the whole night since he is physically unable to move a single other muscle, yet only if there was a little detail different than the last time. 

So he gathers every last bit of strength he still finds in himself and speaks up. 

“Please,” Minseok pants, his words slurred in tiredness, “Don’t go, don’t leave me this time.”

When the morning comes, Minseok feels definitely fresher than the night before even though his limbs seem to weight at least two tons. With a sigh, he shifts a bit and stretches his sore muscles while the sound that leaves his mouth changes into a slightly pained wince when a dull pain shoots through his lower back. At that, everything comes crashing down on him – Jongdae across the club, their kiss in the bathroom, the sex… He quickly opens his eyes and moves his gaze around the room to spot anything that would show him that he wasn’t dense enough to let himself be fucked and left afterwards again only to be disappointed when he is met by an empty other side of the bed and a completely abounded room. He begins to ask himself how he could have been so dumb the last evening to believe that now would be any different than their first night together when he is now left alone again with aching bones and a heart that is bruised because he feels used – like somebody has picked him up, played with him and left him shattering into smithereens as if he is a cheap object. 

With another silent, slightly pained cry he lifts himself up and throws both legs over the edge of the bed while his soiled blanket falls from his nude body. The draft makes something swoosh from the nightstand to the floor, catching Minseok’s attention when it sways to the ground. It’s a piece of paper not bigger than his hand, the kind of notes he uses as index cards usually laying on his desk, with a handwriting that does not belong to him, that he hasn’t seen before. With blue ink, there is something written in the middle which makes the inside of Minseok’s chest feel a little lighter. 

I will always find you again. I promise.


	6. The Third Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: extreme violence and murder.

The rain has stopped to fall at around 3 am, leaving the streets shining in the wetness of the single drops that melt together until they form creeks and thin streams that follow down the sidewalks. The air smells like summer – moist, refreshing and a little earthy – yet there are not many people outside to actually appreciate it. Just one man runs with the small river as if he is chased by the devil.  
His black hair is plastered to the top of his scalp because of his anxious sweating as he looks over his shoulder again and again to get a glimpse of whatever is following him. He is absolutely sure that there is something, somebody waiting in the dark for him to slow down or trip only to have a chance to tear him apart.

_He is coming for you _rings in his head in such a threatening voice that it just adds to the fright burning in his bones and coaxing his muscles to continue moving although he is already extremely exhausted to the point where he fears that he will pass out soon enough. _He is going to kill you if you stop. _

“I don’t want to die!” he rasps out, his voice filled with tears of desperation that well up in his eyes and encumber his sight but he knows where he is, where he must be. There is his house in a few feet distance, he can already spot it, he just has to keep running for a little longer and then he will be save… His shoes are loud and smacking when they are stomping over the cold stones under his feet, the fast pattern echos through the otherwise silent air with his panting that is too heavy to be overheard and his blood boiling and rushing in his ears. One of his hands is already stuffed in the pocket of his pants – he has to find the key because the door is locked but he needs to get inside immediately if he wants to live – while the other already reaches out for the handle. He is so close that he can almost feel the metal under his palm.  
And he wants to cry in relief when he actually is near enough to open it up, the key is already passing through the lock and he hears the click that tells him that he will be save any second soon – yet all air is knocked out of his lungs when somebody tackles him against the wood.

His head smashes against the hard surface with a rough bang before the door swings open and he falls forwards with no arm stretched out to catch himself so that his face comes in contact with the icy stones that build the hallway’s floor. There is stinging pain shooting through his head and face, making him groan in pain while a puddle of warmth is pooling around his forehead, the metallic smell makes him nauseous just like the pounding ache behind his closed eyelids. All he can see is screaming darkness but he feels something moving his legs so the door can fall shut again.

“Please,” he mumbles out through his burst lips but the word just sounds like a meaningless whimper that is forced out to get rid of pain and the man knows that even if it would have been understandable the stranger who has brought him this state of misery wouldn’t have cared, just like all of his following pleas would fall on deaf ears. But he is not even able to force out a single other word because something is pulling him down into a deeper swirl of deafening darkness, of dulling hurt and endless fright – what makes him fall into insensibility sooner than he would have considered possible.

The man doesn’t know how much time has passed by when he groans out in pain once he regains his consciousness. His left eye is too swollen to be opened and there is something sticky clinging to the skin of his cheek, lips, chin and throat. The guy’s head still throbs when he rolls it to the side with a tortured sigh, encumbering something cold pressing against his temple. Normally the icy feeling would be welcome but the voice flaring up in his ears makes his blood run cold more than he can enjoy it.

“Don’t move just yet,” the unfamiliar person grumbles and with it the memories of how he has gotten into this situation come back – the night at the bar, how he had spotted someone following him, how he had begun to run once the stranger had muttered just a few words: the name of his son and ‘Park Hyukjeong’, the man who has been killed some days ago. That has been all but the male had immediately known that he would have died if he didn’t succeed in fleeing… which he didn’t.

Deciding to better listen to the stranger, since he refuses to believe that he will die soon, the man lets his head hang again and opens his burst lips to get some more oxygen because his nose feels pretty stuffed.

“Good boy,” the stranger praises him quietly and the cold metal disappears from his face, “The other one wasn’t this obedient. Perhaps this will actually be quick and neat and not like it was with that guy before you.”

A fearful sob escapes the man’s lips at that, the evidence that he is not going to fall into unconsciousness soon later because that sob can be understood as a simple word. _No._

“You don’t want quick and neat?” the stranger asks, mocking confusion laced in his voice that sounds farer away now, as if he has distanced himself from his already broken victim. By then the man realizes that his hands and feet are unable to move, tied together by something cutting into his flesh but his whole body is hurting anyway so it doesn’t really make a difference. Yet not being able to flee just fuels his fright and soon the tears are falling freely, his body trying to cry out the anxiety which is bubbling inside of him.

“I should have guessed that much,” the stranger continues, “Seeing what you have done to others, you probably are into pain, aren’t you?” the stranger clicks his tongue, now sounding nearer again – way too close actually. “We can arrange that but you have to look at me first.”

The man sniffles pathetically, shaking his head as fast as his unbearable pain allows him only to get his chin grasped with tight, cold rubber sheathed fingers.

“Look at me,” the stranger says again, stern and emotionless, maybe a little annoyed as if he doesn’t have a lot of time, “Or I’ll make you regret even being born.”

And the man obeys because he knows that he will die anyway but he doesn’t want to make it any harder on himself than it has to be. It takes him some time to blink away the blurriness encumbering his eyesight and something that had glued his eyelashes together – probably blood from falling directly onto his face earlier – yet when he can see, the appearance of the stranger shocks him. He is not older than the man himself, most likely way younger actually, and doesn’t look like somebody willing to cause unknown persons any harm. And when the stranger smiles, it doesn’t seem like he is a killer who gets off on stabbing people and burning them in their own bathtub.

“There you are,” the stranger muses. He is standing right in front of him, bend down a little so that they are the same height and he has a knife in his right, glove-covered hand from which blood is leaking, the dark red fluid shimmering on the silver blade. His hair is covered by a dark beanie, no sign of his hair what probably only is that way in order to not leave evidence for the police. The man notices that the stranger is very careful, he has been with his last victims already it seems, so it doesn’t really come as a surprise. Even his shoes are covered in some blue plastic.

“Don’t look so scared,” the stranger muses as he takes a step back while he straightens his spine, “It will be over before you know it if you keep obeying me so well. Otherwise it will get a little more painful for you but still probably really quick. I’m not in the mood for anything else today.”

The man groans, now more in despair than it actual pain at the final realization that he really wouldn’t get out of this alive. His wrists and ankles are tied together way too tightly – his hands behind the back of the chair he is sitting on, his feet are free to wiggle but he is too exhausted to move a single muscle anyway – what means that there is no way he could flee. New tears are now pooling in his eyes while his murderer just clicks his tongue while he shakes his head.

“There is no need to cry,” he grumbles while he holds the knife a little higher, inspecting it with attentive eyes while a drip of blood flows down the blade and onto his glove, “You don’t even have the right to cry. Not after what you did.”

A whimper echoes through the room while the man shakes his head a little, the moistness on his cheeks just growing at these words. So he was right, his son really is the reason why he is going to die today. What only leaves the question how this stranger he has never seen before knows about it.

“Don’t you worry your sick head about that,” the younger male scolds him as if he can read his thoughts while he steps nearer again, the knife resting calmly in his loosely closed fist while his eyes are now locked on his victim’s face, “It doesn’t matter why I know or how I found out. What does matter, though, is that you will never lay a finger on him ever again.”

There is nothing but pure disgust in the stranger’s eyes as he comes even nearer, the tip of the blade now poking against the man’s clothed shoulder. He is shaking in fear now, his fists tightening severely while he tries to struggle away from the cold metal that is pushed against his skin, not that hard to break through the fabric or his flesh but enough to make a stinging pain spread from that inch of contact.

“We are only about to start,” the stranger growls and with a quick motion slides the blade over the right side of the man’s chest, making blood ooze from the cut while a scream falls from the man’s lips. It seeps through the fabric of his shirt that is already filled with sweat, coloring the light blue in a dark red that spreads from the burning wound, slowly but surely. He trashes with the last bit of strength he finds, hiccupping through the pain as if it would help in getting rid of it, yet the stranger doesn’t even let him catch his breaths before he cuts him another time – the knife now sliding smoothly through the side of his waist.

Pained cries and tortured twitches hit his body while he throws his head back and tries to breathe but the only smell that hits his nose is his own blood and it makes him dizzy to the point where he feels like he will pass out soon again but the pain is too much to let him do just that. Especially when the stranger adds some single, shallow cuts to his arms, legs another to his chest. It hurts so fucking much everywhere, it is unbearable for him and he screams his plea out, begging the stranger to just kill him already if that is what he wants to do but the other male just shakes his head as he takes a step back to look at what he has done.

Lee Kangsoo is slumped back in his chair as he cries through the agony that is apparently his whole body while he tries to stay still in order to not bleed any longer . The other part of him wants to fight against the pain invading him. He drags on his ties with little to no strength left as if he really wants to flee but once again notices that he is not able to do so.

“Please,” he sobs through the blood that is still lingering in his mouth from his fall on the cold tiled floor earlier, “End me.”

“Oh, I will,” the stranger mutters, leaning down again to whisper directly into his ear, “But after what you did to him, I will make you bleed for a little longer.”

In one swift motion, he buries the knife in the man’s stomach. Kangsoo’s eyes are wide opened in shock and at first he doesn’t feel the pain because it is way too much for a human being but then he does because it explodes directly over his navel, spreading like a wildfire to every inch of his body and he screams so loudly that he is sure that the neighbors are alarmed. There is a hole in his stomach, he is torn apart and the stranger is now twisting the knife inside of him, the blade scratching his insides as he is inwardly torn apart. He can taste blood gathering in his mouth.

“You hurt him so badly,” the stranger growls as he presses the knife into him more firmly, owning him another scream in pain, “This is nothing compared to what he has to go through for the rest of his life.”

He steps back, the blade still resting in the man’s belly. His shirt is completely soaked by blood now and he is still groaning, crying, yelling in pain as if it would help him. It only makes the blood flow harder out of the wound. The stranger can only imagine what the torn skin must look like, not to mention his organs that are surely frazzled by now – no way to fix him or stitch him back together again, exactly what he deserves.

“You can feel your heart pounding, can’t you?” his murderer grumbles as he looks down at him with his bloody arms crossed in front of his chest, staining his own white shirt, “That is what happens first. Your body tries to keep you organs oxygenated, what requires a higher frequency of your heartbeat. Your blood pressure is low though to keep the blood from flowing out of the wound – or wounds in your case. But it rises, doesn’t it? And your hands and feet are getting colder because your body tries to save your insides and your brain more than your limbs.”

The man is still shaking in pain but it is too unbearable to even scream anymore so he just twitches in silence as his body slowly accepts that it is dying, the stranger’s words sizzling through to him although he can hear his own heart pounding in his ears while the warm fluid is still oozing from his opened stomach.

“Your veins and blood vessels are slowly closing up,” his murderer continues, looking at him as if he is studying an animal in a laboratory, his gaze focused but professional, not at all as if seeing this man dying because of his own hands is getting him going.

“Your brain doesn’t get enough oxygen anymore, you are getting dizzy and can’t see properly anymore, you have to fight to keep your consciousness,” he continues and kneels down in front of him to look at his in torture twisted face, hung to avoid the look of the man who brought him into his situation. “Not long until your heart will stop to beat because it won’t get enough oxygen either.” He clicks his tongue and shakes his head in disappointment, “Even one liter of blood loss can end with your death but that’s not sure. We will make sure at least half of it is outside of your body, just to be save.”

The man wants to protest, he wants to trash and scream and fight but he is too exhausted and his whole body is on fire because of the pain and his stomach still feels so warm because of the blood that it feels like somebody has emptied a buck of hot water over him. The light around him starts to fade, just like his senses don’t pick up on anything but his torn insides anymore. He is sure that his murderer is still talking to him but he can’t hear it anymore and slowly everything becomes numb until his head drops to his chest completely, his lungs stopping to draw in oxygen once his heart refuses to beat another time, tired of fighting any longer.

The stranger sighs as he stands up, wanting nothing more than to rub his palms over his face but he knows that he has to get rid of the gloves first if he doesn’t want to get blood all over himself. He will discard them once he has made sure that the body is laid save in the bathtub. Normally, he would have killed him there, like he has done it with his previous victim, too, but he wanted to leave some evidence this time – give the police something different than the last time to spice things up a bit. The way he kills is still the same, though, so that hasn’t changed too much.

He knows that he is playing with fire (literally he notices when he drags the lifeless body off to the bathroom in order to burn him after he had got his knife back and cut through the cable ties that had held the man’s limbs together) because some day somebody will find out why he kills those men exactly, how he finds his victims and why he does it the way he does but that day is not near, he can feel it. Most of the times the police is way too oblivious when it comes to the most obvious things so that he doesn’t have to worry about being caught – not that he would mind. Death penalty is not legal anymore and it is not like he has something to lose since he has lost everything already. He wouldn’t even care about having to sit behind closed bars for the rest of his life.

When the body is save in the tub, head rolled back and eyes opened a little, the killer looks around the room in order to find what he is looking for. Deodorant and hairspray are always flammable what helps him in getting the skin to burst under heat. Proteins, what a human’s flesh is made of, denaturants over a temperature of over 110 degrees – the reason why people die of too high fever or burn themselves on hot substances or objects. The structures of those proteins fall apart and cannot be stitched together again afterwards what explains why one cannot un-boil an egg once it was thrown into bubbling water for some minutes.  
Just like the kind of burns the killer is causing his victim now could never be cured again when he holds the spray in front of the lighter he keeps with him wherever he goes and makes sure that the whole skin is obnoxiously red or deeply black by the time he is done with him. The plastic of the tub takes some damage, too, but the man doesn’t think that anybody would have been willing to take a bath here anyway when the wife comes home to find her husband like this.

The man watches how the skin melts under the fire, how his clothes are burning away to be left in single tatters glued to his tortured body, the blood bubbling and dissolving under the pressure of heat. Before it can get too high or cause any alarm, the murderer takes the showerhead and lets cold water rain down on the dead body. The flames hiss when they are killed, too, leaving a dripping corpse in the bowl that was white once before the man slowly backs away from the victim.

He looks around the room for another few times before he places the bottle of hairspray on the sink again while he makes sure that he hasn’t left any actual evidence of his presence or being. There are no fingerprints anyway due to the three pairs of gloves he wears over his hands, none of his hairs due to the hat and no evidences of his shoes due to the covers he has put over them. One cannot be careful enough and he knows that one day, he will leave evidence and he will be caught but until then he hopes that he can end some of the persons who deserve it just like the guy he leaves behind now.

Baekhyun seems to know exactly when his best friends needs him what could explain why the younger man stands in front of his door around half past nine in the morning with a bag of hot buns in one hand and a great smile adorning his way too cheerful face.

“Hey, hyung!” he greets Minseok when he opens up for him, grumpy and only dressed in a pair of shorts and sweatpants because he has just woken up. His hair is mushed up and tousled on top of his head, his eyes are still droopy and his skin wears wrinkles from his sheets.

“Hi,” he grumbles and steps aside to let the man in, of course asserting how his best friend stops first before he actually walks over the doorstep.

“He left you again,” Baekhyun mumbles while he takes off his shoes after having thrown the bag in the older male’s arms, “Hasn’t he?”

Minseok has caught the buns in midair and he nods although he knows that the younger male can’t see it but it is probably unnecessary to answer anyway so he just walks down the hallway towards his kitchen, limping just the slightest bit. Baekhyun watches him with concern the whole time once he has straightened up, following him as fast as possible since he has some questions about last night.

“Please tell me that it wasn’t like the last time,” he begs his older friend who is standing on his tiptoes to get plates for the both of them out of the cupboard over their head.

“It was nothing like the last time,” Minseok grumbles, “No, last night was way better and I even was embarrassing enough to beg him not to leave me but guess what he did anyway!”

Baekhyun winces at that, not only because of the meaning of those words but because of how his best friend sounded – a little bit pouting, mad at himself and the slightest bit hurt, too. The expression that is written all over Minseok’s face betrays him even more, it shows that no matter how badly he tries to overshadow it, the fact that he has let himself be used and left again pains him more than he would ever be willing to confess. So Baekhyun places one hand on his best friend’s arms when they are pulling the buns out of the bag and stops him from continuing with the task to embrace him in a tight hug.

“You don’t have to play strong in front of me,” the younger man mutters and, with a slightly cracking heart, asserts how Minseok goes slack in his hold as he heaves out a shaky sigh.

“Why am I letting him do this?” he asks, voice muffled from his lips that are pressed against Baekhyun’s shoulder while his own arms come to circle the small man’s waist, “I knew this was going to happen, why did I let him do what he wanted and ruin me again only to leave me when I wasn’t looking?”

Baekhyun settles his head against the curve of his hyung’s neck while he tries to form a coherent and fitting answer in his head. The older man is always so rational, so reasonable that he now finds it hard to assert what words would be right to say now.

“Because you are painfully attracted to him,” Baekhyun says slowly, all while keeping his arms tightly around Minseok’s shoulders to keep him steady, “and when he always raises your hopes before making you feel great and treasured, it is only normal that you let him lure you in. It is some kind of manipulation because you have been drawn to him even when you didn’t know his name and he just was that one hot and cute guy who always smiled at you in the hallways.”

Minseok sighs again while he pulls back slightly, taking his arms back to rub both palms over his face when his friend has let go off him, “But I knew that he wouldn’t stay but instead leave without saying goodbye and that is what I don’t get. Even if he just wants me for my body, he could say so, right? Why raising my hopes in leaving his number or little notes when there is no way of talking to him except for when we are getting physical?”

At that, Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, “What little notes?”

Minseok bites down on his lower lip and wordlessly pulls the small piece of pater out of the pocket of his sweatpants, handing it over to his friend before he continues to prepare breakfast for the both of them while the younger man reads over what Jongdae has written before he has apparently left.

“Hyung,” he says quietly, almost carefully, “He is playing with you.”

“I know,” Minseok answers in an equal register with his eyes still fixed on the buns to avoid the pitying look Baekhyun is surely shooting him.

“And this sounds actually rather stalking,” the younger man adds as he reads the few words over and over again, “I mean, it is not cute like ‘We will hopefully see each other again’ or ‘I would love to meet you another time’ but ‘No matter what you do or if you even want to, I will make sure to find you’.”

Now Minseok looks up with disbelief prominent in his gaze, “Okay, now you are being ridiculous. It has something to do with what we said when we were in the club. When he came to me, I said that I had thought that I had lost him but said that he found me because he is drawn to me and that is why he will always find me again. I agreed that I want him to do so, that is probably why he wrote it this way.”

For some moments, Baekhyun looks like he wants to say something but decides against it in the end so that he just shakes his head and passes the note to his older friend in order to let it be for now. It is too early in the morning to get worked up over how naïve Minseok seems to be in this matter or how much off an asshole that stranger is when it comes to his wonderful best friend.

Some minutes later, they are sitting on the couch in the living room again, this time without popcorn between them but with plates in their laps, when Baekhyun reaches for the remote of the TV.

“Kyungsoo slept over at mine yesterday,” he says when Minseok opens his mouth to argue that eating should be possible without additional entertainment, “And he was called in for work because apparently, they found another body.”

Minseok’s hand stills from where he wanted to take another bite from the bun with his eyes wide opened, “The same killer?”

Baekhyun turns on the TV and searches for a news channel, only answering when he has found one where they already discussing the latest victim of the murderer.

“Seems like it.”

Minseok’s blood is running cold in his veins as a shiver rakes down his spine when the female journalist talks about the killed man while a picture is shown next to her head. The name Lee Kangsoo is written under it but Minseok is too busy staring at the unknown man who doesn’t seem like a stranger to him. The shape of his eyes and nose seem strangely familiar, just like his lips and the shape of his face, only the hairstyle is completely new to him but Minseok assumes that the man really has aged since the last time they saw each other.

“I know him,” he rasps out after dropping the food on his plate and leaning forwards a little, “He was a friend of… of my-“

Baekhyun understands without his best friend saying it out loud so he takes both of the plates and puts them on the table before reaching a hand out for him and laying it on his shoulder, “Was he one of them?”

Minseok shrugs as he thinks about it for some time while Baekhyun turns off the TV to not disturb him further.

“I don’t know, I don’t think he was. I mean… I would remember, right?”

His eyes are filled with fear and unsettlement when they flicker back and forth between Baekhyun’s, his hands are shaking in his lap as memories float his head. Memories of when he still was a kid, when he still lived with his parents and was supposed to have a save, protected childhood without anybody laying a single finger on him. Memories that still haunt him in his dreams.

“Don’t think about it,” Baekhyun says and faces him fully, both of his hands now rubbing soothing circles over his best friend’s upper arms, “First your stranger and now this, it is a bit much. How about we go out today after our classes? Do you feel like going anywhere?”

Minseok just shrugs, his gaze now a little unfocused but Baekhyun wouldn’t be his best friend if he didn’t know what to do in a situation like that so the younger man just nods to himself before he speaks up again.

“Okay, I got you. First thing we do now: get some proper clothes on you. Second: telling Junmyeon that you are skipping classes today and that he should cover you with his notes. Third: going out. I know exactly what we are going to do even if I will die at the end of the day.”

And Minseok lets himself be manhandled as he tries to get his mind off of those memories and toxic thoughts while one of his hands is buried in his pocket and desperately clutches onto the note Jongdae has left him while Baekhyun pulls gym clothes out of his closet and gives Minseok all the time he needs in order to prepare himself for the day.  
Later, when the hours have flown by and every of his muscles is aching from all the running, working out or weight lifting they have been doing throughout the whole midday and afternoon, Minseok finds himself slowly forgetting about everything that has been encumbering his mind until then. Only the note that he keeps in his pocket makes its way into his head over and over again.


End file.
